


A Millennium Apart

by jayjay4750



Category: Big Hero 6 (2014), How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Gen, San Fransokyo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-28
Updated: 2016-12-10
Packaged: 2018-03-09 12:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 40,934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3250013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jayjay4750/pseuds/jayjay4750
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Though everyone thought that Alistair Krei’s teleportation experiment had been shut down, another incident occurs on Akuma Island, causing a boy and a strange creature to suddenly pop up in San Fransokyo. Suddenly, Hiccup is stuck centuries away from home. Guided under Hiro and Baymax, Hiccup and Toothless must start over and find a way to thrive in the city. But first, they must leave behind everything they’ve strived for and learn again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I: The Island

Hiccup treaded through the village another time, and it seemed almost as if he was moving subconsciously. He knew Berk like the back of his hand—he has been chief for about three months now. When he arrived in Gobber's workshop, he decided to continue tossing fish into a sack.

"Do you have to go?" a female voice says from behind him. He turned around to find Astrid leaning against a support. She tossed up a chicken leg, and Stormfly appeared, snatching the leg out of the air.

"Hey. Stop worrying," says Hiccup as he approaches her. "It's just like a search for new dragons. I'll be back before anyone even realizes I left. But if those rumors about the Screaming Death are true, then I'm afraid we don't have much time."

Several rumors have been spreading around the archipelago, saying that the Screaming Death was out sinking islands again. Stemming from a far distant tribe, they soon spread through seafaring traders and, before anyone knew, almost all tribes had received word, and some of those tribes are dragon-fighting. The people of Berk were informed only a week ago when Trader Johann visited their island again.

Astrid planted a light kiss on Hiccup's cheek. "Okay. Just remember that this is Screaming Death you could be dealing with here. Untrainable, not the best encounter we've had with rare dragons."

"Tell me something about the Screaming Death that Fishlegs doesn't know. Or something that isn't in the book." Hiccup scoffed. "I'll try to be back tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow if I'm unlucky." He peered out at the orange sunset, lighting the winter sky on fire. A cool breeze blew through the village, though they were used to freezing temperatures at Berk.

"Perhaps I'm worrying too much," she says. "I guess it's because you're chief now. You don't have nearly as much free time as before. I don't know, but you're treating this like you're saying goodbye."

"Ah, but this isn't goodbye. Maybe it's just because I haven't left the island for weeks now, it's just nice to be free from time to time. I mean, nothing interesting has really happened since Dagur's attack on the village. Flightmare's not for five years, and even then, nobody should expect it to come to this village after we drove that thing away. Dagur's most likely gone—it's been about four years since that happened. And the only thing Alvin's been saying lately, if anything, is just about the Screaming Death."

"Perhaps," says Astrid. "Well, just be careful out there."

Hiccup hauled the sack over his shoulder and kissed Astrid lightly on the cheek. "I will. I have to go before dark."

Out of her peripheral vision, Astrid can barely spot Snotlout and Fishlegs taking seats next to her. "Where are the twins? Blowing themselves up again?" she asks without turning her head to acknowledge them.

"You know it," says Snotlout, resting his elbows on his knees.

* * *

As Hiccup approached his house, he found Toothless climbing along the roof, the black dragon staring at him as if he was expecting him to say something. Toothless eyed the sack of fish that Hiccup had slung over his shoulder.

Hiccup looked up at him, dropping the sack of fish to the floor. "Well, it's almost dark, bud. Let's go find that Screaming Death."

Toothless jumped down from the roof and positioned himself next to his owner, his best friend. Hiccup clipped the sack of fish on his saddle and mounted Toothless unhurriedly. With the starry night approaching, the two of them took off, becoming a simple black figure disappearing from view.

In the clear night sky, Hiccup began drifting off on how he hasn't been off the island in weeks. Being a chief was definitely the most difficult thing he's ever done, more difficult than trying to muster up the courage to fight a dragon when he was little.

He's never felt this free in a long time.

He watched the innumerable amount of islands they passed by, traveling in no specific direction. First, he passed over Dragon Island, reminding himself of the long-distant battle he had with the Red Death.

Continuing to watch what was under him as they flew, Hiccup noted in his head each of the islands they passed. Outcast Island. Breakneck Bog. More islands he could not name, and islands he expected to disappear sometime in the next few weeks.

Spotting an aggregation of dark clouds up ahead, Toothless slowed down and began to back away from the storm system brewing off in the distance. Storms were not a good sign during a flight, and although it has been a while since a strong storm has interrupted any of their flights, the riders were always looking out for developing systems while flying.

"Let's turn around," says Hiccup. They turned around, and looking back, Hiccup could barely spot a bright flash in the distance, and lightning connecting the ocean to the clouds. About ten seconds later, the sound of thunder drummed in their ears.

Having turned back from the developing system, they continued flying in the opposite direction they were going in. Passing by Outcast Island again, which Hiccup used as a checkpoint to note their location. They must not be that far from home.

They started in a direction they have not gone previously, the tiny lights shining beneath them. Hiccup was not completely confident that they wouldn't try to attack him—though Alvin considers the Outcasts to be allies of Berk, they're still far from gaining Hiccup's full trust. But even if the Outcasts were going to target them, it was nearly impossible to see them in the night sky.

They passed by the island for the second time unnoticed. Taking advantage of the fact that they were near home, Hiccup reached for Inferno, checking just in case he forgot to bring the sword along. The handle met his fingers, and Hiccup inhaled and exhaled deeply. He hadn't forgotten anything.

Sometime during the flight, Hiccup lost track of the time. He no longer knew how long he has been gone, but he guessed that he was gone for about three hours. He wasn't expecting the sun to rise soon—days were extremely short during winter.

They passed over another series of islands—nothing spectacular, but they felt like they were traveling into unchartered territory. Hiccup didn't remember ever mapping these islands.

Hiccup dozed off for a while, and the next thing that grabbed his attention was the sky brightening. He could tell Toothless was also tired from how unstable the flight was. Spotting a fairly large island down below, he decided to direct Toothless to land so they could get a bit of rest.

They landed near a group of wild Nadders, which Hiccup decided to leave alone. It wasn't like they posed any threat anyway—if there was one species of dragon that Hiccup knew best other than the Night Fury, it's the Nadder.

He unclipped the sack of fish from Toothless's saddle and set it down. It flopped onto its side, the contents spilling over the sand. "Dig in, I guess," says Hiccup.

As Toothless dug into the pile of fish one at a time, Hiccup remembered that he promised he would be back either today or the next day. Having found nothing interesting—it seemed their first search for the Screaming Death resulted in nothing—he decided that it was time to turn back to Berk.

"Okay, bud. Let's just get some rest and we'll head back in a while," says Hiccup. He rested his head on Toothless's side and before he could do it himself, his eyes closed on their own.

* * *

Astrid paid a quick visit with Valka as the sun was rising. When she entered the Haddock House, she found Hiccup's mother tossing fish to Cloudjumper. Valka turned her head toward the front door as she heard it open. Outside, a storm system was developing in the distance, though it seemed no one was expecting it to hit Berk.

"Well, you're up early," says Valka. "Is Hiccup back yet?"

Astrid shook her head. "It hasn't even been a day yet. Give him some time," she says. "I'm just hoping nothing goes wrong out there, you know, there's another big dragon on the loose. According to the book, third largest after ah… Red Death and Bewilderbeast. Listens to no one, as far as we know."

"Well, I think he'll find a way to handle it if he ever encounters such a dragon. He's the chief. He has to come back." Valka's eyes seemed to drift off into open space, seemingly staring out at the sky and the world out there.

"You're worried, aren't you?" asks Astrid.

Valka tried to speak, but only stuttered, no words coming out of her mouth.

"It's okay. I'm worried about him too." She took a seat inside the Haddock House. "I guess I still can't trust him when he's out there. It's still quite shocking that he grew up into… what he is now. I mean, back then, before he met Toothless and before we all had dragons, he was just so helpless, always trying to prove himself to his father. It never worked."

"Go on," Valka requests.

"Stoick would always have to jump in and save him when he was on the verge of something… something horrible. All we ever did was stand there, watch him, and sometimes tease him if things went really bad. Man, it makes me feel kind of terrible on the inside."

"I can see how Stoick always jumps in the way to save Hiccup." Valka's eyes turned into glass. "I can't handle it. I've already lost someone in the family. I don't think I can imagine losing Hiccup as well…"

"But he's changed so much since that happened. Ever since that one night when he actually hit a Night Fury, things really weren't the same. But that's really when I feel worst about myself. He kept besting all of us in dragon training, and I grew jealous of him because he was a natural, literally, at dragon training. I guess I was the one built for dragon killing."

The house fell into silence. Valka tossed another fish at Cloudjumper, while Astrid just listened to Stormfly's footsteps as she trod outside.

"Well, now he's chief, and he's been chief," Astrid says, breaking the silence. "He's going to come back.

* * *

Hiccup's eyes fluttered open, the sound of waves crashing on the shore soothing his ears. The sun was now directly overhead, and he had to hold his arm in front of his eyes to prevent it from blinding him.

He stood on his feet, and Toothless's eyes opened shortly after. Hiccup began gathering everything, clipping the now-empty sack back onto the saddle. "Well, I guess we should head back now, bud. No signs of Screaming Death here. No missing islands, nothing."

Mounting Toothless, he watched as several Nadders passed overhead, though he doubted it was the same group they had seen last night. As Toothless was about to take off, a low rumbling sound only he could hear seemed to catch his attention. His head perked up, trying to track the source of the noise.

"Something wrong?" asks Hiccup, patting his best friend on the side.

Toothless didn't need to answer that question. The rumbling grew louder, and soon Hiccup could hear it as well. He dismounted and started dawdling alongside Toothless toward the noise. The island was quite large, and Hiccup did not know what types of dragons inhabited the island.

The terrain was uneven, and they had to climb a hill before the land dropped down into a valley. The rumbling sound seemed to come from inside the valley.

Then everything went still again. The rumbling had stopped.

Looking down toward where Toothless had pinpointed the sound to be coming from, Hiccup found that the ground had been ripped up. Felled trees scattered the area, and boulders surrounded the seemingly lifeless circle in the middle of a prosperous island.

The circle had no grass, no signs of life at all. There was just soil. "That's definitely not something Screaming Death would do," says Hiccup.

The next thing that came to his mind was a Typhoomerang, but then if it was the work of a Typhoomerang, its emblem would be implanted in the dirt. No such emblem marked the land. There was ash on the ground, though.

_That must mean it's a new dragon!_  Hiccup thinks to himself. His sense of curiosity pulled him closer toward the circle, toward the patch of dirt surrounded by boulders in the valley. It was a reasonable conclusion to jump to—things like this don't occur naturally, no matter how perplexing a phenomenon. Only a dragon that they have never heard of could have done this.

But what could this dragon look like? Will it be large like a Typhoomerang, or small like a Smothering Smokebreath? Will it be a boulder, stoker, or sharp class dragon—he had already ruled out strike and tidal. The ring of boulders and felled trees looked like something a boulder class dragon would make, but the singed soil seemed to be the work of a stoker class.

Drawn toward the center of the circle, he and Toothless inched their way down into the valley. Surrounded by fully grown trees as they walked, they felt the ground shaking beneath their feet, and the strange rumbling sound had started again.

"Is something tunneling below us?" Hiccup says to himself, looking down at the grass. "Well, that could only mean one thing."

But something about the rumbling continued to pull them toward the circle. Somewhere, Hiccup felt like this rumbling beneath his feet was not because a Whispering Death or the Screaming Death may be tunneling below them. It felt like the source was the circle.

Reaching the group of felled trees, they found the circle, but some strange force seemed to emanate from the circle. All the felled trees in the area seemed to be attracted to the center of the circle, and they drifted over the boulders and into the circle.

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged glances, and right away, Hiccup hopped onto Toothless, who took off the moment the prosthetic leg was secure on the saddle.

As they watched the event occur from above, they could see that the interior of the circle had now been tinted purple a bit, like a strange field. A part of a tree fell into the circle, and one of the strangest things that had ever seen occurred.

It disappeared.

It was baffling, something that Hiccup has never witnessed and was supposed to be impossible. Matter does not simply disappear into thin air. It must have gone somewhere.

They watched as more debris entered the field. Several stones. More trees. Even a few Gronckles flew over the area, and they seemed to drift toward the field, but the force wasn't strong enough to pull them in.

Hiccup directed Toothless a little closer to the field, trying to get a closer look at what exactly was going on. They hovered only a few stories above the field, continuing to observe what was happening.

Trying something for himself, Hiccup unclipped the empty sack and tossed it down. He had no use for it now that it was empty, and there were a million of those back home.

One moment it was there, and the next moment, it was not. It was gone.

What the two hadn't noticed was that they were gradually touching down, closer and closer to the field. When Hiccup found out that Toothless's tail was now only inches from the field, it was too late.

The second the two made contact with the ground, the world before them changed into something beyond imagination. Colors swirled around them all over the place. Gravity seemed annulled, as Hiccup felt like he could just float there. The buckle on his leg was the only thing keeping him and Toothless together.

Around them, debris floated all over the area. They dodged several uprooted trees and stones as they continued into the void.

Hiccup took a glance back where they came from and found nothing. It seemed like they just appeared where they were.

Then he focused back on what was in front of them, and found that off in the distance, the colors seemed to fade away into whiteness.

Deciding that it was the place they should go, he urged Toothless to try to move toward it. They found that they could move easily.

As they continued, the white in the distance seemed to grow closer. Time seemed to turn to nothing, and they felt like everything was slowing down right before their very eyes. After a while of just flying in open space, they only had a split second to react and dodge something that was coming their way.

Hiccup looked back to see that it was like a stone, but it was cube-like. Another piece missed them by just inches, and Hiccup reached out his hand and felt the material. It was smoother than stone, and just as hard. He pulled his hand back as his wrist was about to collide with a pane of glass.

Something tiny and black seemed to break when it hit Hiccup's arm. More and more of the tiny things came their way, and it didn't prove to be that difficult to catch one. The design was strange, and Hiccup wondered what it could be used for.

The one thing he held in his hand seemed to want to join the rest of the other tiny things. It pulled itself straight out of Hiccup's hand and attached itself onto the others.

As they continued, they also ran into something strange, shaped like a cloud. Its colors were off—there were red and pink ones—and Hiccup, as curious as he was, did not want to know what would happen if he stuck his hand into one of them. Not after previous experiences with strange gases like Zippleback gas.

He took another tiny black thing flying toward him and tried to toss it into the cloud. It entered the cloud and faded away from view, but never came out.  _Yep, I'm not going in there._

Turning his attention back to where they were going, they white just grew and grew until it was the only thing they could see. Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, blinded by the bright light.

He felt like he was in the middle of one of the strongest storm systems ever encountered, just without the rain pattering on the stone paths and without the booming thunder.

Hiccup opened his eyes, and suddenly, something appeared off in the distance. Lights and colors flashed in front of them, but Hiccup couldn't make any sense of it.

And then, darkness.


	2. II: Welcome to San Fransokyo

Hiro perched himself atop one of San Fransokyo's tallest skyscrapers, merely admiring the view. He knew that someone would probably see him up there if he stayed up there for too long, so he and Baymax would have to take off soon.

The incredible height still shocked him—being so high above the ground always took his breath away as he watched all the tiny figures moving in an orderly fashion through the central business district of San Fransokyo. Somewhere in the crowd, he also spotted several figures moving incredibly fast through the crowd.

From atop the building, he could catch a clear view of the Golden Gate Bridge, so long as it wasn't a foggy day. Akuma Island sat there silently in another direction, bringing Hiro back to the memory of Callaghan's daughter.

"Well, let's get out of here before anyone sees us," says Hiro, climbing onto Baymax. He secured his suit's magnetic pads onto the extensions on the back of Baymax's armor.

After everything was secure, Baymax positioned himself at the edge of the building. He leaned back, and they entered a head-first dive to the streets.

Whizzing past GoGo on their way down, Baymax pulled up and activated the thrusters as they were about to reach the ground. Hiro blinked several times, partly because he was trying to adjust to the sudden changes in air pressure, and partly because of the illusion that they were going to hit the ground.

They sped over one of the busiest streets in the city. Citizens turned away from their affairs and focused their attention on Hiro and Baymax. Everywhere, people seemed to freeze in order to witness the two flying so close to the street they felt like they could reach up and latch onto them.

Soon into the flight, they were joined by everyone else: Wasabi, Fred, Honey Lemon, and GoGo were all traveling beside them.

They took a sharp turn that led outside the central business district, and soon the general height of the buildings beside them began to fall.

Soon, they reached the end of their course, Wasabi being the last one to catch up with them. They were on a platform overlooking the bay, and off in the distance was Akuma Island. They could still see the remains of the building on Akuma Island, once used as a testing facility for Alistair Krei's project 'Silent Sparrow', or his teleportation experiment. Now, it's completely abandoned.

The same place he discovered Callaghan was responsible for Tadashi's death. The place where he first went searching for Krei.

But even from a distance, they could tell that something has changed with the laboratory. It seemed flattened, now nothing more than a pile of concrete blocks scattered around the area.

It would be hard to miss the multitude of small ships pointed toward the island, and some were already docking there.

* * *

Alistair Krei was one of the first to jump off the boat the second they landed at the island. He sprinted up a hill, and from the top, he was able to get a view of the now-abandoned laboratory, flattened to the ground.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a tiny figure closing in on him. He didn't need a closer look at them to find that it was Hiro Hamada and his friends.

Then he saw what was in the middle of the ruin. There laid something black, and it seemed to have wings and a tail. There was a saddle laid across its back, and at the end of the tail, where the fins were, he saw that one side was makeshift.

Whatever it was, it definitely had an owner, as showed by the saddle.

Krei stepped to the side to allow Hiro and company to land next to him. While GoGo, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Hiro all dismounted Baymax easily, Wasabi still clung onto Baymax's right arm, petrified from flying.

GoGo pulled Wasabi off Baymax's right arm, and Wasabi fell to the grass, groaning. "I'm not flying on the arm again," he says.

"Then take the wing!" exclaims Gogo. "Close your eyes, hold your breath, do something!"

The look on Hiro's face was mixed between disapproval and concern when he saw Krei. "I thought you shut down your 'Silent Sparrow' when… well, you know. The thing happened to Abigail Callaghan!"

"I— I did!" exclaims Krei, trying to prove his innocence. It was true—he had absolutely nothing to do with what happened here. "And I thought that portal was destroyed after Callaghan tore apart my building."

Hiro turned his attention to the black creature in the middle. Taking off his helmet, he began to inch his way toward it. "I don't think there's any way someone could've survived this. Baymax?" Hiro turned to his companion.

"My readers detect signs of life coming from there." Baymax pointed at the creature. "Human life." He turned his head to look at Hiro, waiting for his next action.

Hiro's eyes widened as he turned back to the black creature. "Human life," he repeats to himself. Those two words only drew him closer to whatever was in the middle of the ruin.

"Hiro! What are you doing?" Wasabi calls out to him.

Hiro ignored him, under the mindset that nothing can get in between him and whatever human life was in the ruin.

Once he was closer to the black creature, he found that it was dotted with shiny, smooth-looking scales. It seemed to have an unbelievable wingspan, but all facial features were hidden. Both the mouth and eyes were closed.

"Stay there until my word," says Hiro.

It closely resembled a dragon, though Hiro knew that was impossible. Dragons, if they have ever even existed to begin with, have gone extinct about a thousand years ago. Regardless, Hiro still decided that he would call it a dragon.

Moving to the other side, Hiro found the dragon's legs wrapped around something pale, like human skin. It was a boy, unconscious, and his short brown hair almost reached his closed eyes.

Human life! Hiro kneeled down next to the dragon and pulled the boy out. He checked for a pulse, feeling the drumming at his fingers in response. He's definitely alive and breathing, but just unconscious.

* * *

Groaning, Hiccup's eyes opened slowly, and he all he saw was the face of a young boy no older than fourteen and the pink sky up above, which meant the sun was setting.

Upon noticing the stranger, his eyes shot open and he gasped for air. He kicked himself away from the boy and reached for something on his waist, pulling out Inferno. The blade of fire made a crackling sound, and it lit up everything within a short radius.

The boy in front of him stumbled back, as it seemed that he was not expecting him to do something like that. The fiery blade left him awestruck, like it was nothing he had ever seen.

The boy wore a mostly indigo and black suit with red accents. He held a helmet under his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup could see five others. Friends, most likely.

"Who are you?" Hiccup asks the boy in front of him.

The boy glanced to his left before turning back to Hiccup. "Hiro Hamada," he says. He kept his breathing steady, as if he were afraid that Hiccup would randomly lash out at him. He didn't want to know what such a blade like Inferno could do.

Toothless twitched a bit and let out a low groaning sound. Hiro cocked his head to the side, like he was trying to look around Hiccup and see what the dragon was doing.

"What's your name?" asks Hiro.

Hiccup looked both ways before turning back to Hiro. "Hiccup Haddock the third." Finding that he seemed to pose no threat, he drew back Inferno and stashed the blade. "Just Hiccup Haddock the third." He didn't really want to make a bad impression of himself by announcing his middle name.

Hiro opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he shut it right away. "And you have… a… dragon?"

Hiro's tone puzzled Hiccup. Why did he seem so surprised that there was a dragon in front of him?

"Why do you sound confused that there is one? I mean, they're everywhere, right?"

Hiro shook his head. "No. I've never seen one in my life. Ever."

"Huh," says Hiccup. "I just saw some yesterday, before some strange force pulled us to a single point and brought us to this pinkish world. All we did was fly toward the light in the distance and we ended up here. And speaking of 'here', where am I?"

"You're in San Fransokyo. I'd like to ask you where you're from."

"San Fransokyo," Hiccup repeats. The name rolled over Hiccup's tongue without any difficulty, though it still felt completely foreign to him. "And I'm from Berk."

"Berk? Where is that?"

"Meridian of Misery."

Hiro just stared at him.

"Okay, I don't know where it is from here, but somewhere really cold. North, perhaps. It snows most of the year there."

Hiro just shook his head. "Yeah, I have no idea where that is." He was being careful not to try to spill the truth to Hiccup.

Toothless's eyes opened for the first time. He didn't recognize Hiro, but he has been listening to the ongoing conversation between him and Hiccup. Slowly, he stood up on all fours, the noise grabbing Hiccup's attention.

"Hey bud." Hiccup patted Toothless on the head, and then ran his hand down the smooth scales that covered his body. "Hiro, is it?"

Hiro nodded.

"This is Toothless," says Hiccup. "Toothless," he gestured to Toothless, "Hiro," he gestured to Hiro.

Only then did he really realize that he felt like Heather. Washed up on an island, or in this case, warped, only to be found by a small gang. Helpless.

But unlike Heather, Hiccup and Toothless had no idea what they were in for.

* * *

Hiro glanced back at the others to find Krei holding a microphone and standing in front of a camera. With no courtesy for the interview, he raised his voice so the others could hear.

"Guys! Come over here!" he calls out.

That grabbed everyone's attention, as less than five seconds later, the other five in the group were sprinting toward him and Hiccup.

"So, what exactly are you guys wearing?" asks Hiccup.

Hiro opened his mouth to answer, but he didn't have time to utter even a single word before Honey Lemon pushed him to the side and knocked him over.

"Sorry, Hiro!" she exclaims, her smile glued to her face.

Hiro stood back up, brushing his suit. "Well, guys, this is Hiccup and Toothless." He gestured at the two. "Hiccup, Toothless, this is Wasabi, GoGo, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Baymax." He pointed at each one of them respectively.

"I won't ask anything about the names," says Hiccup.

"So what is this, like a dragon?" asks Fred. "If so, then I'll say this ahead of time." He paused for a moment before uttering a single word. "Wow."

"Exactly like a dragon."

"Uh… what do you do with it?" Wasabi asks nervously.

GoGo cleared her throat. "Isn't it obvious? You ride it."

Wasabi turned to her. "That's what I thought when I saw the saddle! Oh, just… never mind!"

Hiro inspected the saddle, taking note of every little detail. It was actually quite simple, made mostly of leather, and it looked like something he could make in a few hours, granted he had adequate materials.

Then he moved onto the buckle on the left side, finding that it was set on the pedal. The only problem was, however, that the buckle, which he assumed the rider was supposed to fit his entire left foot through, was nowhere near big enough for anyone to fit their foot through. Heck, not even a toddler's left foot was small enough to fit through the space!

"Huh. I do see one major flaw with the saddle," says Hiro.

"And that is…?" asks Hiccup.

"This right here is supposed to be what keeps you secured and preventing you from falling, yes?"

Hiccup nodded. "It also allows me to control the makeshift tail, thus letting me control where we go. The foot just goes through that slot right there and you're set."

"Then why is the slot for the foot so small? I mean, there's no way someone's foot can fit through that thing."

"Well, it's specially designed for me because of this." Hiccup patted his left knee twice and held his left leg up, showing off the prosthetic that took its place. "Long story about how it happened. I don't think you'd believe it if I told you."

"Right. Because I'd certainly believe one of your old tales from… Berk."

Still Hiro wondered to himself how he got it, and he was on the verge of asking Hiccup how it happened, no matter how unbelievable it may be.  _How did I miss that?_  he thinks.

Hiccup thought for a moment. "Actually, you know what, I'm just not going to tell you guys. Just because you most certainly wouldn't believe it unless you see it. Heck, where I'm from, some people from distant tribes still refuse to believe that such a thing could happen."

Hiro glanced at his friends, trying to tell them that he didn't know what to ask Hiccup. It didn't work, so Hiro had to excuse himself from talking to Hiccup and head back to the others.

"Look, guys. He thinks dragons still exist," Hiro says in a low voice so Hiccup couldn't hear him.

"I would too. I mean, he's got a dragon right there. I'm just quite curious to see what it can do! How cool would that be?" exclaims Fred. The others shushed him right away.

"No, no. it's more than that." Hiro shook his head. "They went extinct a thousand years ago. Fact. There's a dragon right there. Fact. There is no way something like that can just pop up in San Fransokyo."

"Your theory?" asks GoGo.

"Well, we all know how the portal collapsed in on itself when Abigail Callaghan didn't come out of the other side, right? And it also collapsed after tearing apart Krei's building."

Everyone in the group nodded, but no one noticed that Baymax had strayed away from the group, toward Hiccup and Toothless.

"Well, Silent Sparrow was supposed to have been shut down after that. Perhaps something went wrong that kept the portal active and rigged for time travel. That's why they're here."

"No way. Science fiction, not possible," says Wasabi.

"Says the guy with retractable laser induced plasma blades in the forearms of his suit that can cut through pretty must anything with ease," mentions GoGo.

"I'm not considering science fiction. Do you remember what Krei said in that video the first time he was showing off the teleporter? He said, "Not science fiction anymore." It was only a matter of time until time travel would become a thing as well."

"Perhaps," says Wasabi.

"I will scan you for injuries," says a distant voice. Baymax.

Hiro turned to find Baymax standing in front of Hiccup. Hiccup looked quite confused as Baymax scanned him.

"No, no, Baymax!" Hiro calls out, but Baymax was already scanning Hiccup.

"Scan complete. I have found no injuries."

 _How did he get out of that with no injuries?_  Hiro thinks to himself. His eyes shifted to Toothless. Possibly.

"No injuries, huh? How does this work?" Hiccup walked around Baymax, and Baymax held still as if willingly allowing Hiccup to inspect him.

"He's programmed for over ten thousand medical procedures." Hiro tapped the badge-like slot on the left side of Baymax's chest. In it appeared two chips—the healthcare chip he's always had provided by Tadashi, and the red battle chip.

"This green chip is what makes him up. It allows him to detect sounds of distress, scan patients, perform medical tasks, pretty much anything that has to do with healthcare." Hiro then moved onto the red chip. "This one is what gives him the ability to fly, karate, do anything related to battle. But uh…" Hiro drifted off, and the first thing he made sure to do was close Baymax's access port. "Yeah. You don't want to know what happens when he loses the healthcare chip."

Hiccup nodded as if he understood, but in reality, he had no clue what Hiro was talking about. He could catch onto most of the things he was saying—what confused him were the words 'chip' and 'programming'.

"His programming prevents him from harming a human being," says Hiro. "For a good purpose."

Again, there's the word 'programming'.

"So those two 'chips' let him do everything he can do? No training, no bonding, no nothing? It's just there right away?"

"Oh, it definitely involves training and bonding. Just not really in the way you would probably do it with something like, say because it's what would make most sense for you, a dragon."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay, so I get the gist of it. Still that seems really… complicated, if I must say so myself."

Hiro shrugged. "I guess you'll catch onto it eventually. Maybe after a while here, you can probably learn quite a bit."

Hiccup shook his head. "No, I'm the chief of my village, and I have to go back home."

"And how exactly are you going to do that? You don't even know where your home is from here," says Hiro.

Hiccup glanced at Alistair Krei. He gave him a quick wave and then started down the hall, back to the boats.

"I guess he's done here," says Wasabi.

"So are we," says Hiro. "You good to fly?"

"Sure, I guess," says Hiro, running his hand down Toothless's side. He turned to the dragon and spoke so no one else could hear. "We're going to be fine here."

"Okay. Just follow my lead." Hiro climbed onto Baymax and secured the magnetic pads on his suit to Baymax's armor.

With no other choice but to follow them, Hiccup mounted Toothless and secured his prosthetic leg onto the saddle, extending the makeshift tail fin. Wasabi and Honey Lemon climbed onto Baymax and held the wing, while GoGo and Fred decided to hang from the arms.

"I'll just tell you that there isn't too much to worry about. The city's quite accustomed to seeing things like this," says Hiro.


	3. III: SFIT

As the island grew smaller in the distance, the city grew closer. Hiro didn't know what to expect of Hiccup, assuming he was from a thousand years ago. He decided to keep the truth from him, though he knew for sure there was absolutely no way to keep the dragon rider from knowing about what technology was present.

The glided next to a building, and Hiccup stared at his reflection in the glass. He reached out for it, but kept his hand away, knowing what would happen if he brushed the glass.

They continued to soar throughout the city, and Hiccup and Toothless just follow Hiro and Baymax's lead. Hiro knew he would have to drop the others off somewhere—it wasn't such a great idea to go on a leisure flight with the others on board.

"Where to, guys?" Hiro asks the others. "SFIT?"

The others all nodded or replied with a simple "yes." Hiro and Baymax pulled up, and Hiccup and Toothless followed after them. In the distance, they could spot the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology (SFIT), the glass panels of the Ito Ishioka Robotics Lab gleaming with a bright blue aura.

The buildings around them started to diminish in height as they approached the university. Hiro and Baymax decided to land everyone right outside their lab, and of course, Hiccup was obligated to follow. Just a few minutes of flying over what he was in for seemed to creep him out—he knew he'd definitely lose himself if left alone.

It took several minutes of flying, but soon the lab had taken up almost their entire view. Everyone landed right outside the robotics lab and entered through the front door, including Hiccup and Toothless. The two of them were awestruck at what they saw—in the city, everything was just a mere blur, but down in the building, they could see everything.

Hiro took off his helmet and guided Hiccup and Toothless to their lab. "Nice place you've got here," says Hiccup. He couldn't even guess on what half of the contents in the room were.

"Thanks," says Hiro. "Well, welcome to the San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. Call it what you wish—school, college, university, academy—whatever you want to call it."

"So… basically where you guys learn?" asks Hiccup.

"Well, pretty much. We already know a lot of the content we're taught. We spend quite a bit of our time in the lab, working on some pretty sweet tech. Laser induced plasma that can cut extra thin, electromagnetic wheels to achieve unbelievable speed, etcetera etcetera. Speaking of which, how exactly does you sword work?"

Hiccup pulled out Inferno but did not deploy it. "You mean this?" He pointed at the hilt, and Hiro nodded.

"Well," Hiccup explains, "On one side is a canister of Monstrous Nightmare saliva, which is what fires up the blade. On the other is a canister of Hideous Zippleback gas, which I won't demonstrate in here. There are two lighters one the hilt—one for the Nightmare saliva and one that creates a spark for the Zippleback gas."

A puzzled Hiro was all Hiccup found as he explained the mechanics of the blade. Hiro didn't know a thing about dragons—it wasn't something he really needed to know, except for the fact that they went extinct a thousand years ago. But just knowing what someone from such a time period could do with dragons was incredible.

"Could you find us a way to demonstrate the gas?" asks Hiro.

"Outside should be fine," says Hiccup.

"Then let's go outside."

They left Toothless and Baymax with the others, confident that nothing would go wrong—Hiccup even reminded Toothless to behave and warned everyone not to try anything too extreme with him. Hiro had to lead Hiccup out the building, as Hiccup has only been inside for a few minutes. By the time they were outside, the sky was almost completely black, and the city's skyscrapers really stood out in the dark. They were still able to see thanks to street lights.

"So, about this gas thing," says Hiro. "So the blade comes out one end, and the gas comes out the other."

"Exactly," says Hiccup, releasing some Hideous Zippleback gas. "It can go on for as long as I want, or until I run out."

Hiro reached for the dark green cloud spewing out of the hilt, but Hiccup grabbed his hand and stopped him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Hiccup says.

"Why? Is Hideous Zippleback gas poisonous or something? Like, something in there is absorbed through the skin and makes me hallucinate?" Hiro guesses. It was a wild guess, but in the mind of an erudite fourteen year old who knew not a single thing about dragons, it was a good guess.

"Good guess, I have to admit, but not quite," says Hiccup. "All you need is a little spark, a tiny little flame and… just duck under something." He held Inferno near the gas and clicked one of the lighters. Right away, he dropped to the pavement facing downward.

 _BANG!_  All the gas blew, creating a loud explosion that one could probably hear across the entire university. Everyone inside the building came rushing outside to see what happened.

"Everything's fine, everything's fine!" Hiro explains to them. "Hiccup's just demonstrating the Zippleback gas!"

Honey Lemon and Wasabi both sighed in relief, while Fred just nodded. Then they all turned back and headed into the building.

"That's… quite intriguing, I must say, how your sword is basically powered by dragons," says Hiro. "I feel dumb. I don't know a thing about dragons."

"Nah. I think I'm the more clueless one around here." Hiccup scoffed. "Nothing here is even remotely close to what we had where I'm from. Just… it's a lot to take in, but I'm trying."

They reentered the building and met up with the others in the lab. Hiro took Hiccup to a separate room, which was a fairly-sized room with a circular window, overlooking the university. There was a desk, trash bins, and a computer.

"This is," Hiro starts, "the lab that belonged to my brother before I inherited it."

"Your brother?" says Hiccup. He had an idea on what happened to Hiro's brother, but he didn't want to admit it.

"Yeah," murmurs Hiro, words which Hiccup could barely hear. "After a showcase that got me into this university, someone—Callaghan, I'm still assuming—set the building on fire. Knowing Callaghan was still in there, Tadashi ran into the building, but then there was an explosion and…" his voice trailed off. He's moved on past his brother's demise, but sometimes, he thinks back to what his brother was to him—Tadashi gave Hiro everything.

"He didn't make it out," Hiccup finishes for him. "But I think I know what's worse than having an older brother who bites it in a fire."

"And that is?"

"Having a parent who bites it from a dragon," says Hiccup. "I can talk about my parent's adventures uh… probably for hours. My mother was kidnapped when I was little, only to be found twenty years later. Then there's my father…

"Chief of the tribe," Hiccup explains his father's build. "Muscular, huge man, everyone thought he was invincible. Compared to him, I was nothing, at least until I brought Berk and dragons together five years ago."

"What happened to him? Dragon crisis got him killed or something?" asks Hiro.

"Worse," says Hiccup. "There was this man named Drago, who claimed he could control dragons. We all laughed when Stoick—my father—explained the story. Even he admitted he laughed when the guy explained it to him. But after we found my mother in a sanctuary, Drago attacked. Took all the dragons. Used them through a Bewilderbeast—arguably the most powerful dragon to ever exist—for evil purposes.

"And Toothless was no exception." Hiccup looked up to see if the dragon was anywhere in his sight, but he was still in the lab with the others. "Drago used him as a weapon. He treated him like nothing more. I could tell he hated it, but there was nothing he could do under the Bewilderbeast's will.

"I blamed him at first for what happened to my father. Now I don't think I can ever convince myself that it was his fault, because it just was not his fault, and it seemed that I was the one who took longest to realize it."

"Oh," Hiro says. He was barely able to utter two more words. "That's harsh. So who became chief after him?"

"Me."

Hiro gritted his teeth. Hard. He breathed through them, feeling the cold air rush between his teeth. "Now you're stuck here, and Berk is without a chief."

Hiccup nodded. "Pretty much."

 _That must suck,_  Hiro thinks, but does not say. Hiccup has easily gone through more traumatic events than he has—the only things that really ever happened to Hiro are bot fights, Robert Callaghan, and the fire. Hiccup lived through actually seeing his father die, he witnessed his mother get taken away (though he was too young to remember it), and he witnessed his best friend become a murderer, obviously unintentionally. But knowing how people often work, they usually can't pull themselves away from what's in the past.

 _But the past is in the past,_  Hiro thinks to himself.  _Learn from what happened in the past so the same mistakes aren't made again._  He continued to think of a few more famous lines that concerned things that happened in the past.

"It's getting late," Hiro says, changing the subject and breaking the silence. "If you'd like, you could come stay with us at the Lucky Cat Café."

"Well, I do need a place to sleep," says Hiccup.

Hiro went on to remove all of Baymax's armor. He opened up his access port and removed the battle chip, setting it down on a desk. In just a few seconds, the white robot's body was exposed, closely resembling a balloon.

"Well Baymax, I am satisfied with my care," says Hiro. Baymax stepped into his charging station and deflated, fitting himself into a case that was about one tenth his size.

"In the meantime," says Hiro, "care to give me a lift back home?"

He didn't know what to expect, but he definitely knew that Toothless would feel different compared to Baymax. Even though the dragon could easily catch up to Baymax at top speed, there were no thrusters and no restraints. It would certainly be an intense ride.

"Are you going to guide me to your home?" asks Hiccup, to which Hiro nodded in response.

The two of them left the building with Toothless, and Hiccup was the first to climb on, buckling his prosthetic leg onto the saddle. Hiro climbed on after him, feeling insecure that there was nothing that would prevent him from falling—it was all about his grip and how well he could hold on.

When Toothless took off, Hiro could feel the wind lapping at his face, leaving him nearly breathless. He's never gone so high or so fast without a helmet—the lack of it would take some getting used to.

It took a few minutes of flying through the twisting maze of buildings that really didn't stand that tall. The hills and narrow passageways served as quite a hassle—they even had to break their flight a few times just to avoid crashing into a hill or a building.

"Over there," says Hiro, pointing at one of the buildings at a corner.

They turned in that direction, and Toothless landed just outside the building, outside the Lucky Cat Café. Right away, Hiro jumped off and guided them to a place where no one could see them through the windows.

"Come on, come on, don't let her see you," says Hiro. "Just wait out here, and I'll explain everything to Aunt Cass. Just wait right here."

Hiro turned away from Hiccup and Toothless and entered the building. Hiccup tried to see where Hiro was going through the window, but he decided to follow Hiro's advice and avoided looking inside.

After about a minute or two, Hiro reappeared and waved toward the two, and Hiccup and Toothless followed him around the corner, right past the front entrance to the building.

Hiro revealed an open garage that had multiple screens lined up on one side. "I think Toothless will have to stay here in the meantime. He's too big to go upstairs, and I don't think Aunt Cass would tolerate having a dragon here. Just play along."

Hiccup and Hiro left the garage to see the rest of their home. "Sorry, bud. It looks like you'll have to stay here for the night, but hey, I'll come find you in the morning."

Hiro guided Hiccup up a single flight of stairs, and Hiro found Aunt Cass sitting in front of the television. All of her attention was focused on the screen, and it seemed as if she didn't even hear any of the footsteps behind her, especially Hiccup's prosthetic.

Seeing nothing but the back of her head, Hiro and Hiccup went up another flight of stairs to find Mochi lying lazily on the hardwood floor.

"Well, I guess this is where you'll stay, at least for the night," says Hiro. The room had another computer and several desks, along with two beds—one was perfectly made while the other was quite messy.

The two stepped over Mochi and Hiccup sat on the clean bed. "Take it," says Hiro. He went ahead and changed into regular street clothes.

"Hiro? Are you home?" a voice calls from below. Hiro gritted his teeth and his eyes widened.

"Okay," he almost whispers. "Don't make any sound, and I'll explain everything to her. Make up some cover for you."

Hiro trotted down the stairs, and Hiccup remained on the bed.

When Hiro and Cass met eyes, they both smiled. "Hey," says Hiro. "I saw you watching. Didn't really want to interrupt you."

"Oh, at least I'm glad you're home. Had a good day at the university?" asks Cass.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, in fact, one of my friends at SFIT is here right now. Is it okay if he stays for the night?" asks Hiro.

"What's his name?" Aunt Cass seemed curious.

"Hiccup Haddock. Don't ask me where the name comes from, but you and I both know that some people just have weird names," says Hiro.

"Can he come down right now?"

"Actually, I don't think so. He came here so we could finish up a project, which right now, is in the garage. Please, just don't go down there until we tell you everything's all clear, because it can get pretty dangerous—laser induced plasma can cut with ease, and you won't be able to see it," Hiro explains. "Anyway, goodnight!"

Hiro turned his back to Aunt Cass and headed back upstairs, where Hiccup was still waiting for him.

"Nice cover, thinking I'm an SFIT student," says Hiccup. He felt the mattress, finding that the bed was much softer than the hard wooden beds they had back at Berk. He didn't know if he would fall asleep faster because it's more relaxing, or slower because he's not accustomed to a soft surface to lie down on.

"Thanks. We'll figure something out tomorrow, talk with Krei about trying to get you back to Berk if we can find him."

Hiccup rested his head on a pillow, yet he didn't even bother to pull the blanket over him. It may not have been a long day for him, but he still felt exhausted.

In less than a few minutes, he was asleep.


	4. IV: Search

Hiccup awoke to the moaning of cars from outside, the city of San Fransokyo buzzing in the morning. He sat up in Tadashi's bed, the blanket still laid across the bed perfectly, but wrinkles gave away the spot on the bed he slept on. One of the pillows had ended up on the floor, which he picked up and set back on the bed neatly.

As Hiccup spent a quick minute or two making the bed, Hiro also sat up. It was Sunday, meaning there would be no classes for the day—just a free day of flying around the city.

"Let's go get Toothless," says Hiro. Hiccup rushed down the stairs, and Hiro followed. Cass was already working for the morning in the café.

"Morning, Aunt Cass," says Hiro as she passed by.

"Morning," she responds hastily, moving onto the next customer. "Is this the guy from university you were talking about?"

"Yep. This is Hiccup," says Hiro. "Hiccup, this is Aunt Cass."

"Nice to meet you ma'am," Hiccup says, holding out his hand. Cass took his hand, and the two of them exchanged a handshake—at least Cass wasn't at the slightest bit querulous about having an unknown guest sleep in her home for the night.

"Okay, so you two have met now, and that's great!" exclaims Hiro, looking for the quickest path out of the conversation just to reach the garage and get Toothless. "So, I've got to head back to university and work, because we can't really finish the project here. We've still got hours to go, also."

"Oh, okay." Cass moved on to the next customer.

The two of them turned away and headed to the garage, finding Toothless taking up most of the space. His head perked up when the two entered, and he swiftly pounced Hiccup, giving him another wet lick on the face.

"Okay, okay, bud, it's good to see you too," says Hiccup, pushing himself up.

Hiro proceeded to open the garage, and Hiccup mounted Toothless. Hiro took a seat behind them, and soon they were soaring at breakneck speeds through the city. They flew so low that Hiro could have sworn Toothless's prosthetic grazed a building, but it kept functioning—it hit nothing.

"So you want to go to university, academy, whatever you told me to call SFIT?" asks Hiccup, his voice nearly raised to a shout.

"Yeah. I'll contact the others just to let them know I'm there," answers Hiro with a voice at a similar volume. They felt like they were screaming at the top of their lungs, and they could barely hear each other.

Hiccup and Toothless decided not to add any flair to the flight—not with Hiro onboard without any restraints. They could save all the tricky maneuvers for later, when there are more opportunities in the central business district.

They pulled up, and suddenly the flight became less nauseating. They reached a stable altitude, one well above the buildings in the city, and one where they could directly fly to the institute. Unlike the Lucky Cat Café, the institute stood out like a tower erected in the middle of nowhere.

When they landed outside the lab, Hiro rushed into the building and sprinted straight for his computer. Hiccup took a bit more of his time, and he decided to bring Toothless along with him into the building, thinking that all the others' projects would be turned off for now.

Once Hiro reached the lab, he was quite shocked to see Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and GoGo all inside, working on each of their respective projects. He assumed Fred was also around, being the school mascot.

"Oh! Hey, guys! I didn't really expect you to be here already!" says Hiro, heading to his lab. "I was actually going to contact you guys and tell you to come here, but since you're already here, I guess I don't have to do that!"

When Hiccup reached the lab, he was also quite shocked to see the others working. Seeing Hiro at the back of the room and heading to his lab, he decided to rush through the room, watching out for any equipment, especially Wasabi's laser induced plasma.

The closest they got to any of the other three's experiments was a few feet from GoGo's bike. Hiccup and Toothless entered Hiro's lab to find him activating Baymax.

The white robot came out of the case and inflated himself, growing up to the same height Hiccup last saw him at, towering over all of them. Baymax stepped out of his charging station, and right away, Hiro began suiting him with his armor.

Then they all left the building, spending almost the entire day out and about in the city. Though the city had adapted to continuous sightings of the six, they had not grown used to seeing Hiccup and Toothless flying around with them.

Throughout the day, they didn't seem to find much crime. The only thing that was even worth noting was someone dressed up as a bird and dumping a whole bucket of an odd mixture onto someone's car—an obvious prankster is obvious. Everyone got their fair share of laughs, except the owner of the car, of course.

As the sun was about to set, the eight of them all returned to the university after a restless day out in the city. Hiccup and Hiro took Toothless back to the Lucky Cat Café, and Hiro managed to sway her into letting Hiccup stay again.

Time continued to fly, and soon several weeks had passed. Hiccup, though he would never even think of forgetting his old life at Berk, continued to learn about all the city had to offer, starting from the most basic things.

* * *

 

Back in Berk, business continued as usual, though there was a tension in the air, now that the chief hadn't been seen in several weeks. They had just lost a chief a few months ago, and nobody knew what it would be like should they lose another one. The one question that everyone asked themselves was: Who would be the new chief if Hiccup doesn't return?

Astrid, Gobber, Valka, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins all met up in the great hall during dinner. Gobber had called the meeting, telling them it was nothing but planning for a search for their lost chief.

"So, Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff, you five can go searching for Hiccup. But until then, someone has to take over temporarily," says Gobber.

"You," says Astrid. "Because you're someone the entire village would trust, being Stoick's right-hand man and Hiccup's 'advisor,' as some would call it."

Gobber bit his lip, sending the clear message that he didn't want to run the village—he didn't even know how long it would be until Hiccup arrives back on the island, or if he could even come back at all!

But he obliged. "Fine. You kids can leave at dawn and begin searching."

They split from there. Astrid went back to her house and started preparing for a lengthy search, packing up enough food to last them a whole day, while the others hung around for a few more minutes to finish their meals.

* * *

 

Hiccup lay on Tadashi's bed, staring up at the ceiling, thinking about how he hadn't seen any of his friends, other than Toothless, in weeks. He had learned a few basic things about the technology that was present in the city, such as how to simply operate a computer.

During his few weeks in San Fransokyo, Hiccup had never come across the slums where illegal bot fights often took place, as Hiro had tried to keep him away from that section of the city. He didn't even think of holding back the truth about the bot fights from him, but as far as Hiro knew, they were still overrun by gangs and thugs.

Searching for a way to remind himself of Berk, he tore a piece of notebook paper out of one of Hiro's journals and took a pencil, placing the tip near the paper. One motion, one click in his mind was all it took, and soon his hand was flying all over the paper.

Once he was out of room on the first one, he tore out another piece, and then another, and another. The pencil became quite dull several times, which Hiccup had to resolve every few minutes using a pencil sharpener, one of the things he had learned to use.

After only about a minute, his hand started to ache, but the fought past the throbbing and kept on drawing, the quality not diminishing even the slightest bit as he moved on.

By the time the whole pencil had gone from basically brand new to nothing but a little stud that would probably break the sharpener if he tried to sharpen it again, Hiccup marveled at all the things he had just drawn. A map of the archipelago. Sketches of several dragons from the Book of Dragons, including Screaming Death and Bewilderbeast. Sketches of many of those who reigned from Berk and other nearby islands—Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff and Tuff, Gobber, Valka, Alvin, Mildew, Savage, Stoick…

Hiccup crumpled up the lower quality drawings and tossed them in a bin, leaving the rest of them on the desk.

He stood up and nonchalantly trotted down the stairs, reaching the verge of tripping at least twice before catching himself on the railing each time. When he reached the café, he found Cass there. "Hey, Cass, I think I'm going to go for a quick walk," says Hiccup.

"Mm-kay," Cass replies, too occupied with those beside her.

Hiccup navigated his way to the garage and opened the door, expecting to find his dragon there waiting for him.

But what he found was nothing but an open space, and the garage was open, revealing the streets outside. There was no trail.

His eyes widened, and his heart rate shot straight up as he began to panic, hoping he was only dreaming. He pinched himself in the arm once, twice, thrice, for good measure, only to find he wasn't waking up—this is definitely real.

Knowing where Hiro would be at this time of the day, he rushed out of the garage and took off toward SFIT. He's never gone on foot to the institute, so he did his best to try to trace the path he took on Toothless—he was lucky that he didn't always travel in a straight line.

Once he reached the robotics lab, he barged straight in and found everyone working, and Hiro in his own lab. Hiccup's legs—or leg—felt like it could collapse under his weight, and he felt short of breath, so he had to stop for a few seconds and slow down as he made his way across to Hiro's lab.

"Hiccup!" Hiro noticed him right when he entered. "Did you not take Toothless here?"

Hiccup snapped his fingers and leaned against the doorway, breathing heavily. "No. I came here because I thought you might have an idea of where he is. I went to the garage, and he wasn't there!"

"Oh no." Hiro bit his lip. "This can't be good."

* * *

 

"All set?" Astrid calls out to everyone, seeing that everyone was present—Snotlout, Fishlegs, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, everyone was there, and Hiccup's absence still made them uncomfortable, even after weeks.

"All set!" Snotlout announces, and then they all took off, away from the island.

"First place we want to go to, Outcast Island," says Fishlegs.

They turned in that direction. Eventually, after about half an hour of flying, a large island came into view. It looked like a desolate island, like it was uninhabitable by humans, with a darkened landscape. Dead trees were scattered around the island. But looking closer, they could actually see several structures on the ground. Although they haven't been there in a while, they knew they had reached their destination.

Outcast Island.

It was teeming with dragons, though no one could tell whether they were wild or trained—they decided that they would treat them like wild dragons should an of them get close just to be safe, as no one knew what Alvin could have done to his island in the past few years.

Spotting Alvin and Mildew near the island's highest point, they landed right behind them, much to Mildew's dismay. Alvin turned around and nodded.

"I haven't seen you five in four years!" he exclaims in greeting, but half-sneering in the process. "So, how's life been on Berk?"

"It's fine, I guess?" Astrid answers uncomfortably. "Okay, not really. Hiccup and Toothless have been gone for weeks now and we have nothing that could lead us to where he went. Since you're the closest to Berk, we decided to come here and see if you've got any leads. And honestly, we don't really want to visit the Berserkers right now."

Alvin shook his head. "I've got nothing, but I do remember seeing a slight distortion in the night sky a few weeks back, and it might have been Hiccup and Toothless, but now that I'm thinking back to it, I highly doubt it."

"Well, it's something. It'll help to know which way it went."

Alvin pointed in a certain direction. "I believe it went that way," he says.

"Okay. That's all we need for now. We'll tell you if we find anything." Astrid mounted Stormfly again, and the group took off in the direction Alvin pointed in.

"So how exactly do you plan to find anything going in this direction?" asks Fishlegs. "There are hundreds of islands, and who knows if there's a cave or something on any of them that they could be staying in? Maybe Toothless's tail broke, and now they can be stuck on any island."

Astrid led them lower to the water. "Then look around for anything floating in the water."

They continued on for a few more hours, dodging several islands along the way. They only spent about a minute on each island looking for caves before moving on, continuing in the same direction.

Then they reached something that was worth taking note of. They shot straight up in order to get a better view of it.

Another desolate island.

And a light rumbling noise, similar to that of the Screaming Death, whose rumors were still spreading around the archipelago.

But there was no scream.

And there was no dragon.


	5. V: Bot Fighting Slums

Toothless searched frantically for a way back to the Lucky Cat Café. Well, really, he had two choices on where he could go: He could either go to the Lucky Cat Café and hopefully Hiccup will find him there, or he can head to SFIT and wait for Hiro to emerge from the robotics lab.

But he was in a portion of the city neither he nor Hiccup knew of, even after weeks of endless exploring. San Fransokyo is a huge city, and the populace doesn't deny its immense size. Although they no longer felt like tourists, they probably still have a whole quarter of the city to explore. Plus, who would know their way around something the size of San Fransokyo after seeing the streets only once?

The sun was setting now, and he could spot several shadows on the buildings—shadows of people, of course. There came flashing lights from their location, and Toothless turned away from the alley—going there would probably start something ugly.

He searched for something he would recognize, like a familiar building or a billboard, maybe some convenience store that would give him some idea of where he was.

Why did he have to leave that garage? Why didn't he just stay inside instead of investigating, trying to find out who opened it from the outside?

Whoever opened the garage chased Toothless straight away from the café and into the sector of the city they haven't visited. It was a part of the city Hiro was familiar with—oh, where is Hiro when you need him?

Toothless knew it wouldn't work, but he decided to try it anyway. Hopefully, Hiccup left the mechanism on his saddle that allowed him to fly without a rider. He spread his wings and tried ascending, only to plummet straight back to the ground after leaping up a few feet.

It's useless. Unable to fly, he searched for any ledges wide enough for him to climb onto—something that would work, that would allow him to get higher so he could grab a view of where he was.

There was a trash bin sitting against a wall covered with graffiti, but that seemed to be it as Toothless bounded through the narrow alley, avoiding open spaces—dragons and cities don't go together, and despite having spent weeks acclimating to the environment, he was still no exception.

The shadows along the walls reappeared nearby, giving him the cue to move again. Taking a risk and crossing the street—this section of the city seemed quiet at night—he leapt onto a nearby ledge, and soon, onto the roof of a building.

But still, he needed to get higher, maybe even as high as one of those central business district skyscrapers, just so he can get a view, just to find out where he should go. He continued moving on the roofs, and jumped down when he felt he was in a familiar area.

Only he wasn't—he only jumped straight back down to the place he found himself lost, and the shadows on the walls were growing closer by the second. People, obviously, but there was no way they could be searching specifically for him. There must be something else going on down here.

Toothless backed up and hid in the darkest spot he could find, closing his eyes and listening closely as the gang passed by. He made sure to especially hide the saddle and the tail. No one would be able to spot him here, as no light from the streets reached the corner.

"Teach this boy a lesson!" a spiteful voice shouts out, grabbing Toothless's attention. His head perked up, and he couldn't help but take a look at what was going on.

A boy no older than twenty-five breezed straight past, holding a small robot and a controller in his hands. Behind him, a group of larger people pursued him, and they were right on his tail. They looked much older and malicious than the boy, who, in comparison, looked like someone who would fit well with the group at SFIT. He wore eyeglasses that shook vigorously with every step he took, and the sleeves of his shirt looked as if they had been chewed on for long periods of time.

Toothless held still in his position, knowing that no one who looks toward him would be able to see him. There was a wall right behind him, so he needn't worry about anyone coming from a different direction—there was only one way in and one way out.

Frozen. That's his position right now—any attempt to leave now will get him spotted, even if it's something as simple as trying to hop onto a building. Leaping straight out and attacking whoever tries to stop him would just be asking for trouble.

He continued to watch the chase, and he was surprised to see that the boy had held up for so long—someone like him would have been caught by now. This boy looked like someone as weak as Hiccup was five years ago, while the group of thugs was like a Monstrous Nightmare—or some other sort of dragon—trying to chase him down in the middle of a raid. The end result is almost certain, but it never turns out the way people expect it to.

Without any warning, the boy took a sharp turn and headed straight down toward Toothless's spot—a huge mistake, considering the fact that on three sides are just walls. Upon seeing the huge mass that blocked his path, he turned around to find the gang members cornering him into a single point in the corner.

What no one knew was that Toothless was right next to the boy, still hidden in the darkest part of the alley. If he doesn't move right now, the boy is going to bump straight into him, thus revealing him. There's no way out of this without being spotted.

The boy dropped his bot and the controller, sliding it straight past the gang members, where another group of people appeared and started tearing both the bot and the controller apart, limb by limb, and wire by wire.

As the boy's leg was about to bump into Toothless's wing, there was a slight flicker in the alley. Someone has a lighter! If Toothless doesn't act right now, both he and the boy will lose—he already knew that he couldn't get out unnoticed, so he might as well do the best thing he could do: Get both he and the boy out of this mess.

The second a light appeared, which then revealed Toothless, he shot straight up and fired a blast straight at the crowd, which only stunned them for long enough so he could bound straight out and make his getaway. As he rounded the corner, he felt something tugging from behind for a split second, but he quickly broke free.

The largest in the gang sat up and shook his head, bewildered by the dragon's sudden appearance. Who can expect such a thing, that there might be a dragon lurking in the alley, waiting to rescue some young student who lost his way and somehow beat him at a bot fight with ease?

He turned around to find the boy sprinting straight out of the alley, taking the same path Toothless just took. The boy picked up something red from the ground before leaving.

He sneered. Maybe this boy had a trap here all along, and he purposely lured him here just for the sake of messing with them! He remembered someone who previously came down here for bot fights, only to obliterate his bot and, with his brother, get him arrested.

Toothless couldn't think to do anything but run—just run, get as far away from this part of the city as he possibly could, and never even think about returning.

* * *

Hiro and Hiccup, along with the rest of the team, have been searching tirelessly for what must have been hours now, yet still they have come up empty since beginning their search late afternoon. Again, the two knew they would return to the café and confront an upset Aunt Cass, but that was the least of their worries.

They reached the illegal bot fighting section of the city, and Hiro tried to stop them. With the gangs that ruled this section of the city, he doubted he would be able to survive even a few minutes after being spotted. Some of them might still recognize him as the one who defeated Mr. Yama's bot—no, he didn't defeat it. He annihilated it.

"Let's stop right here and turn around," Hiro suggests. "I don't think he'd be here. He's smarter than that. I have a… quite ugly past with this section of the city."

Hiccup shook his head. "No. We have to keep moving. If we're going to find him, we're going in here. Something tells me he's in this section of the city."

"What, do your 'dragon senses' tell you where he is, oh so wise dragon trainer?" asks Fred.

"Who said anything about 'dragon senses' in the past few weeks?" says Hiccup. "Surely it wasn't me. Whatever. Let's just go."

He silenced Fred before he could speak again and continued on. As they traveled deeper into the bot fighting section, the street lights began to grow darker and less frequent, leaving nearly half the section in darkness. Only the spots where bot fighting actually prevailed, which there were quite a few, were lit up.

They could hear several voices coming from the left, and right away their instinct was to turn away from that sound and head the opposite direction. However, Hiccup insisted that they should head toward the voices and see what was going on there.

Much to the dismay of Hiro, there was no choice but to follow Hiccup and see what everyone was clamoring about. The innumerable alleyways acted like a maze, as every single one looked almost the exact same, which gave them the feeling that they've been down a certain way before.

It took a few minutes, and the voices grew louder, clearer in the alleys, until they rounded another corner to find a group of gang members right behind a boy no older than any of them. The boy tripped and fell, and soon ten feet began to dig into his side.

"Hey!" Hiro calls out, unable to think of anything but to draw the attention to himself. The gang members stopped, yet the boy continued to lie on the floor. "Let him go."

"And who thinks they can order us around?" It was obvious they didn't' find any of them to be a threat. "You and your cheesy costumes."

Hiccup grabbed Inferno and began to release a stream of Zippleback gas, standing behind everyone so no one could see him. It began seeping beneath their feet—maybe it wasn't a good idea, but there was no way he could hide it now.

He looked at Honey Lemon, and then down at the gas beneath them before motioning for Baymax to retrieve the boy on the ground. Baymax took one step forward before glancing back to see who had pushed him. The group stepped forward to block the boy on the ground.

"You block us all in here and I'll blow this place to smithereens!" yells Hiccup, deploying Inferno. The gas was now visible in front of everyone.

"You're bluffing. No sane person would even dare to blow himself up," one of them replies.

They had seen right through it. Hiccup motioned for everyone to back off and used the flame from his sword to light the gas, and it lit up the entire alley before diminishing into a cloud of smoke. He then went to flash a spark from the hilt.

"Oh, maybe. But the point is, you're leaving, we're staying!" He went on to release a tiny bit of gas from the hilt and lit it with a spark this time, creating a small explosion. "Now, what's it going to be?" More gas began seeping out from the hilt.

The group backed off, allowing Baymax to retrieve the boy and carry him to safety. Everyone turned away from them once they had the boy, turning around and heading back the way they came from.

Rapid footsteps approached from behind them, and Honey Lemon turned around to find the gang members chasing after them. "Uh… guys?"

Everyone turned around, and soon they were all sprinting at maximum speed, struggling to keep up with each other.

"Stay close!" says Honey Lemon. "Fred, I'll need some cover!" She typed a code into her purse, which released a solid palm-sized ball which she continued to toss up into the air.

Fred jumped straight up and flame spewed out from his suit, straight to the ball that Honey Lemon threw, and it exploded into a pink smokescreen. Everyone in the group joined hands in order to avoid losing anyone, dashing blindly through the alleys hoping to lose the gang.

After a while, once they had left the bot fighting sector of the city with the boy, they decided to start a trek back to the university.

* * *

From a taller building, Toothless took in another view of the city, but still several skyscrapers continued to block his line of sight. If Hiccup was searching for him right now, he'd definitely hear this…

He let out a roar, as loud as he possibly could, which lasted for a few seconds until he couldn't go on, and he subsequently stopped—yeah, he'll definitely hear that and recognize it.

Already he lost the bot fighters and that boy he had rescued, and despite having drifted into a part of the city he was familiar with, he still didn't know where to go from there. Hiccup isn't someone who likes to sit and wait for things to come to him, so he's definitely somewhere in the city and not at SFIT or at the café.

To attempt to fly would be suicide—he knows that the tail isn't working, and he can't just go somewhere and find someone to activate it for him. A fall from this height, though he and Hiccup have been higher, would still mean certain death for anyone.

Looking back, he discovered that the tail wasn't only dysfunctional—it had been obliterated! What could have destroyed it, he didn't know, but maybe something went wrong in the alleyways, or during his climb, or anything between now and when he rescued the boy—oh, there were so many possibilities!

After minutes of trying to decide where to go next, he decided to jump down from the building, the ground slowly approaching. Once he reached the ground, he started into the part of San Fransokyo he was familiar with, his mind set on reaching the café.

* * *

They took a short lift from Baymax, but it didn't really help that much, as he was the one holding the boy. Therefore, Fred and GoGo, as they were the ones who could handle long falls the best, had to hang onto Baymax's arm with a death grip. Wasabi and Honey Lemon flew on the wings, while Hiccup had to find a spot right behind Hiro, who lent him one of the gloves on his suit to help him hold on, which was extremely uncomfortable.

An idea sprung into Hiccup's mind.  _Why haven't I thought about this earlier? I've gone weeks here and I still haven't used this yet!_  Once they were well above all the buildings, and the lab was in sight, he began to slip off the glove that Hiro handed him.

"Okay. I admit it. I hate this spot on Baymax," says Hiccup, now hanging on only by Baymax's shoulder. "See you guys back at SFIT!"

He leapt off the robot head-first and slipped his hands through two cuffs on the side of his suit. GoGo and Fred both tried to catch him, even considering letting go just to catch him, but when Hiccup spread his arms out like a bird, they realized he wouldn't need any help.

He shot straight back up to the others and pulled up to them, flying on his own. Then he pressed on a mechanism near a shoulder, and a fin protruded from the back of his suit.

Hiro just smirked, the guilty pit in his stomach suddenly dissipating. "You really know how to keep secrets, do you?" he says, although he knew Hiccup couldn't hear him.

From behind, though, came something that Hiccup could hear—a low roar, one that he's heard too many times before. It wasn't as loud as it usually was, which told Hiccup that they had put quite some distance between them and the source of the sound. He tried to glance back.

"That sounds like Toothless!" he shouts at the top of his lungs in order to make sure he was heard.

"Hiccup! There's no point in going back to the city!" GoGo replies. "It's a maze there. Toothless may be a dragon, but you can't track him down from here with only one loud roar."

"Then let's just get everyone back to the university," Wasabi suggests. "Let's just regroup, and we can set off again in about an hour."

Baymax landed outside the robotics lab, while Hiccup had a little bit of difficulty descending—he ended up having to grab a tree in order to try to lower himself.

He secured the leather in his suit and pulled back the fin, regrouping with the others at the lab. They took the boy in, and Baymax laid him down on a couch in Hiro's lab, tending to the patient. He was conscious, but he was too busy holding his side to think about where he was just carried to, or who had taken him.

As Hiccup looked at him, he noticed that the boy was clutching something to his chest, something bright red and of a familiar shape. He pulled the boy's arms away from his chest to find that he was holding Toothless's tail fin!

Gently taking the fin and inspecting it, he noticed a tear in the fin—it was basically useless now, and he would have to make a new one if Toothless would ever fly again.

"I think he might know where we can find Toothless," says Hiccup, folding the fin and setting it on a table. "But we will need a new tail fin."


	6. VI: Two Searches

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long to get up, but I was having quite a bit of trouble with finding out where to cut.
> 
> But here's the longest chapter in the story so far, and as of right now, the chapters are going to get a bit longer from now on.

 

Once Toothless reached the Lucky Cat Café, he saw nothing but the garage, still gaping open, as well as Cass inside cleaning up, and she seemed worried—thinking of where Hiro may be, most likely, as he was supposed to be home hours ago.

But he didn't find Hiccup there, and he knew that he would be out in the city searching for him by now. Oh, how much easier this would be if there were more dragons here! A Rumblehorn would be the most helpful thing they could afford to have, as one could use the saddle to track Hiccup down.

He groaned in annoyance, knowing that he can't reveal himself to Cass. A dragon can't simply waltz into a café saying, "Hey, I got lost and now your nephew and his friend are searching for me; do you know where they are?" even if said dragon has been living in the garage for weeks undiscovered.

Toothless pressed his nose to the ground and tried to catch even a bit of Hiccup's scent, but he only came up empty. He shook his head and decided to move on—they're probably still looking for him in the central business district.

He turned around and started back down in the direction he came, ignoring the bystanders who stopped for a moment. Even after weeks of acclimating to the environment, people still stare at him on the streets!

Stopping for a moment, he flicked his tail in front of him. Yep, it really was gone—something must have torn it off when he was dashing through that alley. He decided not to tear off the saddle for only one reason, and that was because Hiccup could easily make a new tail that would work just as fine—maybe even better considering what this city has.

With only one working tail-tip fin, he could probably sustain himself for a few seconds, or smooth a fall, though he definitely could not reach any extreme heights. But who would want to glide for just two seconds? Sure, it helps to be able to smooth a fall, but when will being able to glide for two seconds ever help? All the roofs are spaced either so close one could leap to another, or so far that he would actually have to fly to reach it.

Ignoring the occasional stares people still shot at him, he continued for what seemed like a couple of hours before he came across what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse. Out of curiosity, he entered the building despite knowing that there was no way he would be in there. It took him a while to find a way in, though; the main entrance was locked.

The interior looked exactly like the exterior: abandoned, like this warehouse was a whole different world placed in the middle of the buzzing city. A maze-like catwalk dotted the ceiling of the seemingly forty-foot-tall building, and looking over, Toothless could actually see that one of the bridges had completely collapsed.

And on the floor were bins, seemingly empty. Toothless searched diligently through each of the containers, checking even the remotest of corners and taking note of even the littlest speck of dust.

After running his front paws through several of the containers, he continued to turn up empty. He continued to move on from bin to bin, thinking for some reason that something would be in there.

When he reached the twenty-first bin, he could feel something under his left paw the second he set it down. Reflexively, the lifted his paw up to see what was there.

It was tiny, and black, and bore a simple design, just like the black things that broke so easily when they hit his paws—the ones that were attracted to each other, and the ones they had encountered right before they ended up on Akuma Island.

He picked it up with his mouth and moved his head slowly in order to avoid swallowing it. Not that he would choke or anything, but it would be extremely gross to have to regurgitate it should it somehow find its way down the Night Fury's throat.

Toothless dropped the black object on the floor and picked it up with his paw before placing it in a niche on the saddle, a spot he could barely reach. There are quite a few spots on the saddle where he can secure it, such as the buckle where Hiccup's prosthetic leg would usually go.

It didn't seem to want to go anywhere, which was probably a good thing. Deciding that he's spent enough time here—he didn't even know why he took the little things from the bin—Toothless headed for the exit, leaving the exact way he came, which was not through the front door. There was a slight  _clink_  behind him as he went. Once outside and in the sun again, he bounded down to the nearest street in order to continue searching for Hiccup and Hiro.

The streets were awfully packed for this time of the day, and Toothless nearly crashed into someone the moment he reached the sidewalk. The traffic light in front of him turned green, and he crossed the road along with everyone else. The fact that he could not fly pained him—oh, how easy this would have been if he at least still had that fin!

"Whoa!" a bystander shouts as Toothless dashes straight past him in search of a ledge he could jump onto for a better vantage point.

There was always the option of heading downtown and finding one of the really tall buildings to climb onto, but what are the chances that Hiccup would coincidentally look up to find his companion on one of the city's tallest buildings? Plus, the city of San Fransokyo is huge, and from such a height, everyone on the ground looked the exact same; they were just little specks that dotted the roads.

Then there's the bot fighting sector of the city he stumbled across last night, but the gangs in there are probably out for his blood right now. If he finds himself in those alleyways again, then those inside will not miss him a second time. Besides, why would he head back there anyway?

Reaching a less crowded street, Toothless flicked his tail around a bit, finally relieved of the crowd. He did not allow his head to dip down, however—he's not going to rest until he finds Hiccup, and he wasn't going to let any obstacles get in his way.

* * *

The rumbling stopped all of a sudden, and there was nothing leftover. Nothing in the island's landscape had changed—it was still the same charred island with a valley, and in the valley had to be some of the most conveniently placed boulders to have formed a perfect circle.

Astrid began shaking; it wasn't because of the cold, but because of the fact that there were so many possibilities as to what could have happened here. The landscape was decorated with felled trees and stumps, and some were even uprooted. It looked like a Timberjack sliced through every single tree on the island, and a Red Death decided to clean the place up with a searing breath.

A cold breeze blew across the island, causing nearly everyone in the group to shiver—winter was approaching, and right now would be one of the worst times to not have a chief. Of course, Gobber, of all people, had to take over as acting chief in the meantime.

"I don't like it," Astrid says loud enough so everyone could hear. "If they were on this island, then gods know what could have happened to them. I don't think they're going to be here."

"Well, we're still going to search this island, right?" asks Fishlegs.

Astrid had to stop and think for a moment; the chances that Hiccup and Toothless are on this island, off all places, were slim. If the land was charred just recently, and the two of them were on this island when it happened, then there is definitely no way they could have survived it.

"Yes," she says. "I hate to say it, but even though they're probably not on this island, we still have to look around it." She paused a few seconds before adding one little detail: "Just not right now."

"Not now?" says Snotlout. "Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Just… let's head back for now. We've been out here for hours now, and that should be long enough. I don't know, there's just something about this island, and I think we should do a full-on search—cover every single nook and cranny of the place. That's just something we haven't the time to do."

Astrid turned around first and started back toward Outcast Island because they had no idea which way Berk was from this island. They would use Outcast Island as their main checkpoint while searching for Hiccup.

Continuing back for several hours, they saw the mostly black island come into view and instantly knew where they were. They turned back toward Berk, and the entire ride back went without any interruptions.

Once their home finally appeared miles away, the riders were exhausted, almost falling unconscious as they drifted on their dragons. The dragons themselves didn't look much better, faltering several times and jolting their riders awake in the process.

The sun was already long gone, and the only thing that told them they were home was the numerous torches still lit up across the village, along with the towering mountain with the great hall situated at the base.

Without even bothering to look for Valka or Gobber, each rider landed right next to their respective houses and sluggishly dragged themselves in with only one thing on their minds: sleep. They could inform Valka and Gobber on what they found tomorrow—they'll tell about Alvin's lead and the desolate island.

No sooner that noon did Astrid wake up, finding herself in her own house. She quickly recollected everything that happened the day before and left her house and joined the crowd in the bustling village.

Gobber will be at his workshop; there's no question about it. She decided that Valka would still be in her house, but knowing her, she could be anywhere in the village at any time. It didn't really surprise her when she saw Cloudjumper waiting outside the workshop.

Astrid found Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs wandering the paths in the village without their dragons, and right away she joined them.

"Look who's finally awake," says Snotlout.

"I don't remember seeing you doing any better last night," Astrid retorts. "By the way, Val and Gobber are inside the workshop, if any of you are wondering. In fact, I'm headed there right now."

Without exchanging any other words, Astrid led the others to Gobber's workshop, and once Fishlegs mentioned that they found something that might be of interest, the two adults pulled them aside right away.

Gobber spoke up next. "Well, what did you kids find?"

"We have a lead on which direction Hiccup may have gone in," replies Astrid. "Alvin told us that a few weeks ago, he saw some distortion in the night moving off to—"

"Hold it right there," Valka interrupts. "Alvin? As in Alvin the Treacherous, chief of the Outcasts?"

"Yes. Why are you— oh, right," says Astrid, realizing that no one told Valka about Alvin. "You weren't there when it happened."

Valka scowled. "That man can snap, and the next second someone's neck will be broken. If I were you, I wouldn't go near him."

"We made amends. He promised he wouldn't attack us."

"An Outcast never keeps his promise."

Astrid decided to ignore her—she didn't want this conversation to go on for an extra few minutes just because they spoke with Alvin. "Anyway, he pointed us west of Outcast Island, so that's where we went, and it took a few hours to find anything, but soon we came across some desolate island. Completely black and abandoned, it was weird," explains Astrid.

"You know," starts Gobber, "this is probably just a new dragon. I mean, it took you kids hours to get there from Outcast Island, yes?"

Fishlegs just shook his head. "I don't think any dragon could have done that. Not even in a pack, and even if they could do that, then why? There would be no reason for some dragons to burn off an entire island, no matter what might be on it."

"Fine then. What have you guys come to think it is?" asks Gobber.

"We don't know," says Fishlegs.

Astrid cut in. "But tomorrow, we plan on heading back there and searching the island for any clues to what might have happened."

* * *

"Are you sure you this thing is the exact same as the old one?" asks Hiro.

"Probably not. I know there's no reason for this to have any mistakes in its shape and size, because we've got this," Hiccup held up the old fin in front of everybody, trying his best to close the tear before his arms gave way, "but my only real concern is the weight."

He held the new fin, which was simply plain black with no designs on either side. If it weren't for the need of a connecting rod and all other saddle mechanisms, one wouldn't be able to tell that it was artificial.

"Whatever. We should be fine with this fin," says Hiccup. "Now we just need this," he took the old tail fin and removed the connecting rod, "and we should be good to go again!"

"There, there," says Baymax from behind everyone, motioning for the boy to stay on the couch.

"Baymax, you okay to take care of him until we get back?" asks Hiro. He knew he was letting go of his only form of transportation in the city, but they had all changed out of their suits anyway; now, they looked like ordinary college students, with the exception of Hiccup, mostly because no one had any spare clothes that fit him and he insisted on keeping his flight suit on.

The group of six took off sprinting out of the lab back to the city in broad daylight, resuming their search for Toothless. Without any leads, they had no idea where they were going—they're just going to have to pick a random part of the city to search and hope for the best.

The boy inside the lab won't be able to provide any leads. They found him with Toothless's fin in the bot fighting section of the city hours ago, and a few hours is more than enough time for Toothless to trek across the city.

So first, they decided to visit Cass and tell her everything that's been going on. They still kept the secret of Hiccup's dragon away from everyone—only Hiro, Wasabi, GoGo, Honey Lemon, and Fred know. Not even Krei knows all the details; he, like everyone else in the city, just knows that there's been a dragon running around with Big Hero 6.

Once they reached the café, everyone found Aunt Cass holding a disappointed scowl on her face—disappointed because she assumed Hiro spent the night at the university and never told her. They entered, and she immediately pulled Hiro aside.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry I forgot to tell you that I was spending the night at university," Hiro says, coming up with a quick excuse. "But I'm only going to be here for a little bit because I've still got a few things to take care of."

Cass placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Just been busy, have you?"

Hiro nodded, and Cass let him go.

"Hi," she says, waving at the others. "So, I'm assuming you're all in on this thing going on at the university?"

All of them, quickly catching onto Hiro's ruse to get out sooner, simply nodded and said, "Yes."

They stood in silence for a few seconds before Hiro spoke up again. "Okay, well I just came to say hello, and tell you that I'm fine and I'll stay safe," he says. "So uh… bye, again, I guess. I'll see you later today."

The group turned away from Cass and left the building, taking off down the sidewalk.

"Okay, I don't think I can lie that well if my life depended on it," says Hiccup. "Seriously. I will admit right now that I'm a horrible liar."

"Well, I guess you're implying that we can trust you all the time, unless you have to make something up," Fred blurts out.

"Yeah, something like that."

They continued talking as they continued to wander aimlessly through the side paths and streets in the city. Eventually, after wiggling free of a heavy crowd, they reached a warehouse that looked all too familiar for Hiro.

"So, when I decided that I would have to stop her from—" Hiro interrupted Hiccup midsentence by holding out his arm, staring apprehensively at the warehouse. The place where he figured out someone had hoarded his microbots and was mass-producing them.

"Uh…" starts Wasabi, "is something wrong?"

Hiro shook his head and started toward the warehouse, searching for a way in. "Oh no," he says sarcastically. "This is only the place where Callaghan attacked me because a microbot led me here with Baymax."

"Whoa, whoa." Wasabi began to defend himself, thinking Hiro's remark was more hostile toward him than what was implied. "I couldn't have possibly known that, so… uh…"

"Don't sweat it," says Hiro. After navigating around the building, the group found a way in. One at a time they entered.

Right away, Hiro spotted the bins still set across the floor in a perfect array, and he could imagine the machine still producing the microbots. As he browsed between the bins, he even spotted a few microbots still lying on the floor, having gathered dust from months of neglect.

Hiro picked one up and inspected it, showing it to everyone else. "Microbot," he says, "probably left behind, or defects." He then took a few more from the ground and shoved it into a pocket.

"And how exactly is this going to help us find Toothless?" asks GoGo, growing a bit more impatient. "I mean, that is why we're out here."

Hiccup stepped on something hard with his right foot. Looking down, he saw another black object—this time not a microbot—peeking out under his boot.

He bent down and picked it up, and in what little light they had, he observed every inch of it, feeling it over and even scratching it.

Hiccup tapped the closest person on the arm, who just happened to be Wasabi. Wasabi turned to see what Hiccup wanted, and he showed him the black object. "Scale," says Hiccup.

That grabbed everyone else's attention, and soon everyone was staring at the black scale in Hiccup's hands. "So that means…" Honey Lemon starts.

"…that we've finally found out who's been helping Callaghan mass produce microbots!" Fred finishes, pumping his arms in victory.

"No, genius. No one was ever helping Callaghan with the microbots," says GoGo, glaring at Fred.

"It means," Honey Lemon starts again, "that Toothless passed by here some time ago, but exactly how long ago is still a bit of a mystery."

"Well, the thing still looks fresh," says Hiccup, "so I can guess he was here less than three hours ago. That might be enough time for him to get halfway across the city, but at least we sort of know where to look now."

"And so we're going to make use of that time," says Hiro, starting toward the exit. "Let's go!"

The six of them left the building and continued in the direction they were going in before, reaching a more crowded street. They had to bunch up together in order to avoid any slip-ups that would result in one of them splitting off from the group.

It was a series of winding paths they were all familiar with, but the fact that they had no idea where they were supposed to go frustrated Hiro. It's a bit better now that they've narrowed their search to half the city, but that's still a vast area to explore.

Soon, they reached a less crowded part of the city, where the group of six decided to rest. Hiro reached into his pocket and pulled out two microbots, noticing that they did not make any sign of moving toward one another like a microbot should.

"These don't seem to be going anywhere," says Hiro, dropping to his knees and laying each microbot on the ground one by one. He had about fifteen microbots.

On the ground, thirteen of the fifteen did not want to budge. Two of them, however, seemed to creep toward each other bit by bit—so little at a time that no one noticed they were moving until they were almost right next to each other.

Before the two could snap together, Hiro picked one of them up and held it over the other. He felt the microbot in his hand pulling downward very slightly, and the other one on the ground shifted.

"These two barely work," says Hiro, joining the two together. "The rest are definitely defects."

"So what are you suggesting we do?" asks Honey Lemon.

"I don't know. Keep them, destroy them, whatever we want to do with them."

Hiccup stood up. "Okay, are we ready to go again?" he asks everyone.

Hiro left the thirteen defects where they were on the ground—they were useless now, and there was no point in keeping them—while keeping the two that worked in his hand. He decided to lead everyone, not noticing a very slight tug from the microbots.

"I don't think this will work, but it's worth a try," says Hiccup. He breathed in deeply and called out on the top of his lungs: "TOOTHLESS!"

Surely, some people would have heard that, and some will stop in their tracks and look around in search of who suddenly called out to the skies. The good thing was, no one had the idea of wandering around in search of the voice; they, for the sudden calling did not concern them, turned back to their affairs.

"I'm not sure if it worked," says GoGo.

"Well, this was the best place to try it without having people look at you like you're weird," replies Hiccup. "But Hiro, I'll let you lead the way."

The group once again met up with the crowd as they reentered the streets, crossing the road immediately. He started away from the Lucky Cat Café, moving quickly so as to cover more ground in a shorter time, making use of the fact that Toothless couldn't have gone too far from the warehouse.

For another hour they searched, and every once in a while someone would call out for Toothless, and every time they wanted to believe that the dragon, wherever he might be in the city, could hear them.

Soon, they reached the bot fighting section of the city, and Hiro instantly felt the desire to turn around—after what happened yesterday, he could expect a good number of gangs to be hunting him down.

The pair of microbots in Hiro's hand suddenly popped out and drifted to the left. Hiro made a quick grab for the flying bots, but they were already out of his reach by the time he saw them flying. The microbots rammed into a building before slowly progressing upward.

Hiro caught up with the microbots and took them in his hand, feeling them pulling in a certain direction. "That's not supposed to happen," says Hiro. "These should be the only two working microbots outside that warehouse."

"What do you suppose we do?" says GoGo.

Hiro thought for a moment before deciding to move in the direction the microbots were pulling. He had to find out what this was—if the microbots were pulling somewhere, then there are definitely other microbots in the general vicinity.

They traveled along the outskirts of the bot fighting section, which still involved a few winding alleys, but no gangs to meet. The microbots began to pull with more force, and the group eventually started running with Hiccup and Hiro in the front.

As they sprinted through one of the alleys, the microbots pulled upward again, while the horizontal force began to diminish rapidly until they passed their target—the microbots started pulling back in the direction they came from.

"Huh. That's weird," says Hiro, seeing how fiercely the two bots struggled to break free from his grasp and head in the direction they just came from. "Let's turn around."

Suddenly, Hiccup felt a blow from behind, taking him by surprise. The tail fin tucked under his arm skidded a few feet across the ground as he fell forward. The microbots in Hiro's hand flew out again toward Hiccup's 'attacker'.

But Hiccup knew who it really was the second he felt the two giant paws leveling him from behind. "Okay, okay, I missed you too, bud!" He rolled over and tried to use his hands to block the paws from striking him playfully in the stomach, to no avail.

The next thing Hiccup saw was Toothless's tongue, and again he raised his arms in an attempt to block the incoming wave of dragon saliva. Eventually, Hiccup managed to struggle free and shake a bit off, but he knew that it's going to be staying there for a while.

"You've been looking for me the entire time you were gone?" asks Hiccup, grabbing the Night Fury's lower jaw.

Toothless gave Hiccup his own wide toothless smile and crooned in appreciation. Hiccup responded with a toothy grin, trying his best to mimic Toothless.

Hiccup took his hands out of Toothless's mouth and wrapped them around his neck, resting his chin on the Night Fury's body. "You never cease to amaze me."

The others couldn't help but smile as well, especially Hiro. He, of all the others, knew what it was like, and he could compare this to when he rebuilt Baymax after discovering his healthcare chip in the power glove.

"You lost your tail fin, didn't you?" Hiccup moved to Toothless's tail, where the left fin on the tip of the tail had been severed. He then went on to pick up the new fin he made, as well as the connecting rod.

Toothless perked up upon seeing the new fin, knowing what it meant—it meant he wouldn't be grounded forever! He bounded over to Hiccup and licked him again on his side before allowing Hiccup to reach his tail again.

"Looks just like the other side," Hiccup tells Toothless, strapping the fin onto the dragon's tail. IT was true; if it weren't for all the straps and the rod connecting the saddle to the tail, no one would even notice that the left side was artificial.

Toothless spread his wings and stared at Hiccup as if asking to fly, but Hiccup only chuckled. "Maybe sometime later, bud. We should head back first."


	7. VII: Passing the Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'm back! I had trouble finding out where to cut this (again).
> 
> Anyway, this story's back on the road now.

 

After they returned to the lab and cries of "Baymax!" echoed throughout, the boy lying on the couch sprung straight to his feet to come face to face with the group standing at the doorway. Baymax turned his attention away from him as he approached the others.

Hiccup had left Toothless outside the lab, which wasn't such a big deal because the building was mostly empty at this time of day—for the sake of not leaving anyone behind, they decided to endure the hassle of having to walk back to the university, but of course, they could still have a little fun and jump ahead a bit. Even though they did travel quite briskly on foot, it was still late afternoon when they arrived at the lab.

"You're up," says Hiro to the stranger. "How exactly are you feeling?"

The boy held out his hand with his palm toward the ground and shook it slightly. "So-so," he replies, "a lot better than before, at least."

"Well, I guess you'll have to watch your back next time you wander in for a bot fight," says Hiro, leaning in toward the boy. "They want to hunt us down, so I recommend you don't go in there at all for a while and wait for everything to cool down."

The boy nodded. "Okay." He started toward the exit. "Well, I guess I'd better head home now. I'll be able to find my way back without any problems, so don't worry about giving me a ride."

Just like that, the boy turned the corner and was out of sight. Hiro stayed where he was in the middle of the room, watching the exit for a few more seconds before Baymax stole his attention. _I never did get his name_ , thinks Hiro.

"Well, I think I'm going to try out the new tail on Toothless," says Hiccup. "I'll see you guys in a few. It shouldn't take long." He then dashed out of the lab, planning on finding the dragon right outside the lab.

Hiro slumped down on the couch, and after a few seconds the other university students took seats elsewhere in the lab. "So what now?" asks Wasabi.

"I don't really know," says Hiro, staring up at the ceiling. "I guess we just keep working. I'm still wondering how this is possible, to have found a dragon weeks ago when they've been extinct for a whole millennium."

"Krei, that's how," says GoGo.

Hiro's head perked, and he sat up abruptly. "Of course! Krei's experiment caused this, so he should know how this happened! We have to talk to him about this."

"Well, there really isn't any way to reach him right now," mentions Fred.

"Maybe not right now," Honey Lemon jumps in, "but I think we can reach him next week."

* * *

Hiccup relaxed on his bed back at the Lucky Cat Café, tossing a ball into the air and catching it with one hand repeatedly. He held a grin on his face, having just found Toothless yesterday, and now he was back in the garage, anticipating their next flight out in the city.

Aunt Cass had to be really oblivious to not notice that a dragon's been living under her nose for weeks now and she hasn't noticed. In fact, she hasn't even suspected a thing!

Hiccup's mind took him back to Berk, where he could imagine his old life there, the place he came from and belonged. The grin on his face dissipated as he lost himself in his own mind, imagining the barbaric archipelago and how it was always bustling with dragons, and how Toothless was the only dragon he has seen since coming here.

His train of thought remained uninterrupted until Hiro burst into the room. Hiccup sat up immediately and sighed, facing the floor.

"Hiccup, I—" starts Hiro, but stopped once he noticed that Hiccup's head was drooping. "Is something wrong?"

Hiccup acknowledged his arrival with a quick glance at Hiro. "No, it isn't nearly as bad as it may seem. I've just been thinking about Berk… and home… and everyone else at home…"

"You want to go back to Berk, don't you?" asks Hiro.

"Well, of course I want to go back to Berk. It's nothing personal—San Fransokyo's a really nice place, but Berk is my home. I'm the chief there, and I don't think my village can handle itself any longer without me," says Hiccup.

Hiro took a seat in a swivel chair, staring up at the ceiling. "I understand."

Hiccup lay back down on the mattress. "Thanks. But the thing is, I don't really know how I'm supposed to get home."

Again, Hiro's mind shot straight back to Alistair Krei and how his portal experiment, although a failure, is probably Hiccup's only glimmer of hope of returning home. If they can't reach Krei, then Hiccup can consider Berk his past; if they can't sway Krei, then Hiccup can consider Berk a memory.

"Well, that's actually what I came here for—to talk about getting you back home."

"Wait, really?" Hiccup sat up abruptly to come face to face with Hiro. If Hiro found even a glimmer of hope that Hiccup could return to Berk, then there's no time to waste.

"Well, first we're going to want to talk to Krei about getting a portal back up," says Hiro, "if we can find him. And Honey Lemon just told me about something next week."

Hiccup snapped into attention. "I'm listening. One week may not be too bad if it's the fastest ticket I can get back to Berk."

Hiro pulled out a slip of paper from his pocket and handed it to Hiccup. It had the SFIT logo printed on the front, along with a few words that described the upcoming event next week.

Snatching a marker off his desk, Hiro hopped over to his calendar and circled a certain date for next week—next Saturday, it seemed. "Every year," Hiro begins to explain, scribbling some words down on the circled date, "the school has a student showcase. You know, that showcase that I went to and managed to get into the school at thirteen."

"And you're interested in this showcase because you think I'd actually be able to go to school there?" Hiccup guesses, though he had already convinced himself that he could never and would never win at such a showcase with only a week of preparation—additionally, he's only spent a few weeks in the city! There's just no way he would be able to blow the professors away!

"Bummer, but no, that's not the reason we're going," says Hiro. "If this year goes like the last, we'll be able to find Krei and talk something into him so he can help us get you back home."

Three simple words came to Hiccup's mind. _Minus the fire,_ he thinks, and his initial impulse was to say it until he abruptly cut himself off as he was taking a breath. _I shouldn't say that, of course there's not going to be any fire this time._

They have Baymax and all the others in the gang, and even though Toothless or the Dragon Blade that was beginning to run out of saliva canisters may put the place a bit at risk, there shouldn't be much to worry about. Toothless is more than careful enough when it comes to fires on Berk, and the school shouldn't be any different, while Hiccup can just keep the sword unloaded so no one accidentally releases some Zippleback gas.

After a prolonged pause, Hiccup finally decided to speak up. "Sounds great! Now, we'll just have to kill the next week and speak with Krei about at least trying to get me back. Can't hurt, right?"

"Right," says Hiro, forcing a smile. He couldn't help but feel sorry for how Hiccup's chances at getting back were basically zero, but the fact that Hiccup was so hopeful in that slight chance that he might be able to get back impressed him. Hiccup spoke like he was aware that his chances of getting back to Berk were all but gone now, yet he didn't let that stop him from having faith in that one sliver of hope.

"Hiro! Down here right now! I'd like you to explain the situation in the garage right now!" Aunt Cass calls.

Both their expressions sunk the moment the garage was mentioned. Hiccup just got Toothless back yesterday—he's not going to let anything happen to him again. He's not going to lose him in the city for a second time.

"Shouldn't she be working the café?" Hiccup says under gritted teeth, starting to scramble down the stairs.

Hiro grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "That's what I was thinking! She's found Toothless in the garage, now we've got to get him out of here!"

"Hiro!" Cass calls again.

"Look," starts Hiro, "sneak past Aunt Cass, get Toothless, then fly to the school, and find Wasabi, Honey Lemon, anyone! I'll meet you there."

"And you? Are you just going to tell her what's going on? I don't know about you, but in a world where it seems no one has ever seen a dragon before, I think it's going to be hard to explain that a dragon's been living in your garage for weeks now," says Hiccup.

Hiro started down the stairs, Hiccup following. "I'll drag her away from the garage so you can get there. I'll simply lie to her—when does she ever not believe me now that I'm a student?"

Maybe Hiro felt too confident with his words—he was already fleshing out a fresh lie as they spoke. He would tell Cass that he had another school project and that he forgot to tell her about the thing he's been keeping in the garage for about a week. Then again, there was a pretty good chance she wouldn't believe him because this would be around the fifteenth time in the past few weeks that Hiro has used the excuse of a project to escape the café at unorthodox times.

They split up when they reached the ground floor, and Hiccup slipped away just as Cass found Hiro. She failed to spot Hiccup.

"Yes, Aunt Cass? There's something in the garage you wanted to talk to me about?" asks Hiro.

"What did you put in there this time?" she snaps, walking over toward him.

Hiccup found the entrance to the garage and entered, finding Toothless inside. He opened the garage to the streets, and right away he mounted Toothless and took off toward the school.

"Look, Aunt Cass, it's just another school project. I'm sorry, they've got me real busy in the past month and a half with project after project, even though some might not have been assigned by the school." He had mumbled the last few words in the sentence, trying to buy Hiccup some time to get out.

"Really?" asks Cass, "then let's see what you've got working in the garage if this is another project."

Uh oh. There's no way Hiro can stall—his only hope is to go to the garage and hope that Hiccup got out of the café in time and is now on his way to SFIT. "Okay," he says nervously, inching toward the garage door.

He tried his best to move as slowly as possible toward the garage, but Aunt Cass kept egging him on to move faster. There was no point in trying to argue, and Hiro reached the garage door in the same amount of time it would have taken him to walk there from the bottom of the stairs.

Cass pulled the door open to find that the area was now vacant, save for the desks and devices strewn across them alone the walls. The garage was open to the streets, and Hiro exhaled a sigh of relief that Cass couldn't hear.

They had gotten out in time.

"Oh… huh," starts Hiro, trying to come up with a story to tell. "I think it escaped. Someone probably took it."

"Well, are you just going to let someone run around the city with the thing you've worked so hard on?" asks Cass.

"No," answers Hiro, "I'll go get it."

* * *

"Microbots," says GoGo, inspecting one that she had pulled off Toothless's saddle during the walk back.

Wasabi, who was standing near his new setup involving laser induced plasma, had heard her. "What about microbots?" he asks.

"Nothing," GoGo quickly responds in an attempt to change the subject—she didn't want her thoughts to scare anyone. Why were Hiro's two working microbots barely functional when next to each other, but they floated in a strange way when they came near the ones Toothless had on his saddle? A microbot doesn't simply hang in the air or float slowly toward its target—no, the second a microbot is released, it instantly joins with the others and one would never have noticed it if it flew right in front of them.

At that moment, Hiccup and Toothless entered the lab without any warning, the sudden noise almost scaring Wasabi away from his setup in the corner of the lab. No one was expecting the two of them to be there.

"Hiccup!" exclaims Fred. "Well, are you here so soon? Well, want to see how Honey Lemon is trying to develop a concoction that would really turn me into Fredzilla and not just a suit?"

Hiccup just scoffed. "Still living in your own fantasies, are you? I think I'll pass. I kind of just realized that you're just like Tuffnut—you even sound exactly like him, too."

Knowing that he would get a few stares asking him who 'Tuffnut' was—a few heads were already turning toward him—Hiccup decided to answer quickly. "Tuffnut's the village clown back at Berk. Always trying to blow himself up with his twin sister. Flies a Hideous Zippleback with her, which is the two-headed dragon that supplies my sword with the gas."

"It does sound like Fred," says GoGo. "I mean, would he not want a two-headed dragon that breathes explosive gas?"

"Not really," answers Wasabi, "but Hiccup, why are you here right now? Shouldn't you be like, at the café with Hiro or something?"

"Aunt Cass found Toothless in the garage," says Hiccup, moving on quickly before anyone could respond. "She didn't see him for long, as she didn't seem to have any idea on what he was. I had to get him out while Hiro would explain everything to her—lying, hopefully—and Hiro said he'd meet me here in a while."

"So you're just going to chill here for a while until Hiro gets here?" asks Wasabi.

Hiccup nodded, spotting Baymax charging in a separate room. He hobbled over to him and, without any second thought, opened the capsule.

The white robot inflated himself in front of Hiccup, blocking out the window behind him. Baymax took one tranquil step out of his charging dock. "Hiro?"

"He'll be here soon," says Hiccup, taking a seat on a nearby swivel chair and rolling it across the room. "Everyone else is here, and Toothless is outside."

They decided to wait for a few minutes in silence, Hiccup pondering over what he would do with Toothless. Having the dragon move into the lab would work, but Hiccup would still stay at the café, and he wouldn't dare put so much distance between them since they lost him. Trying to get Toothless back to the café won't work, as Cass would be checking that garage much more often.

* * *

Minutes of explaining and improvising later just to save Hiccup, Hiro rushed straight out of the Lucky Cat Café, away from Aunt Cass and toward SFIT. He sprinted as fast as he could to the school, similar to how Hiccup had rushed over to the place when he found out that Toothless was gone.

What was different this time, though, was that Hiro knew of all the small passageways and shortcuts that he could take to get to the university, and he managed to reach the building much faster than Hiccup was able to. He passed by Toothless on the way in.

"How are we all holding up over here?" asks Hiro.

Everyone exchanged glances. GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Fred were all at work, while Hiccup was sitting in Hiro's lab conversing with Baymax.

Hiro waited for a few seconds. "And… no response," he says. "Okay, I see how it is."

He headed into his lab to talk with Hiccup.

"So, you manage to bail me out?" asks the chief.

Hiro shook his head. "Yes. Thank God for Aunt Cass's oblivious nature. I managed to talk you out of it. Robotics, animatronics, you know."

Hiccup heaved a sigh in relief. "Oh, that's good."

"But the thing is, just… stay low in the meantime, at least until the showcase."


	8. VIII: Looking for Help

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> References, references, references...

Hiccup decided to leave Toothless hidden in the surrounding trees. He felt it was enough that no one would look at it twice—the trees gave the dragon enough cover. Couple that with the night sky, and it becomes difficult to spot a Night Fury.

"Just stay here until I get back," instructs Hiccup. "I don't know how long this will take—an hour, maybe two. You'll be fine though."

"You ready?" asks Hiro.

Hiccup nodded, and both of them appeared out of the scenery to join in with the rest of the crowd as they poured through the doors for the showcase. Since the fire had burned down the regular building last year, the showcase was taking place at the school's arena instead. Projects were scattered all over the area, both behind the stands and outside the arena.

"If you want to marvel at all the tech, then go ahead," said Hiro as they passed by a drone. "This is probably the most advanced you'll get as far as tech goes, so I wouldn't mind you making the most of it while we're looking for Krei."

After wandering a bit more, the duo bumped into the rest of the gang. It turned out they were all searching for Krei, though everyone had come up empty thus far.

"It's hard to find space in the new venue," mentions Honey Lemon.

"Well, I guess that would explain why we're all having so much trouble finding him," replies Wasabi. "Anyway, where are all the big presentations going on?"

Hiro shrugged. "Considering the venue, I'd have to say on the floor," he says.

The problem was, the entrances to the stands were blocked off, so the entire group had to weave through a maze of projects in order to reach the other side.

The floor was hardly an adequate place to hold a presentation. It was no stage, as the members of the audience were at a higher elevation than the presenter. A backdrop extending from the floor to the ceiling covered the other side of the stands.

The half of the stands that was actually occupied, though, was full of audience members. The presenter would enter from the lower tunnel that led to the locker rooms, monologue about his or her grand idea for a few minutes, and then leave the other way.

That was the one thing that caught Hiro. Since last year, the popularity of the showcase in general had skyrocketed. When Hiro presented his microbots, the audience consisted of merely Callaghan, his friends, and a few other instructors, though it eventually grew into a much larger group.

This year, though, with the new venue, there were so many more attendants and visitors. All the instructors were sitting in the front row, while other audience members including parents, workers, students, and children made up the rest of the stands.

"I like this new system," mentions Honey Lemon. "It draws a bigger crowd."

Everyone stayed in the tunnel to avoid interrupting the current presenter—it was generally a taboo act to enter or exit in the middle of a presentation, especially in front of one of San Fransokyo's greatest young minds.

They also remained silent for the moment whilst waiting for the presentation to end. No one could spot Krei from such a location anyway, so there was no reason to talk.

A round of applause echoed throughout the arena, which told the group that the current presentation had just ended. They all entered the stands the second they could, and from there they began to search for Krei before the start of the next show.

Wasabi ended up finding the man near the floor, in the middle of a group of other adults. It wouldn't be such a kind thing to just walk up to him between people, so Hiro had to go as low as he could and hope that Krei's eyes would start wandering and catch onto him.

"Psst!" says Hiro in an attempt to grab Krei's attention. He began to wave at him, though the next presenter was already walking out onto the floor.

The next presenter walked out onto the floor and stood on top of the SFIT logo, awaiting the green light to begin her presentation.

Hiro took a glance out at her, and then back toward Krei, who hadn't seemed to notice anything. He grumbled slightly before turning around and walking up the stairs. "Grab a seat, people. You don't want to be up during a presentation."

The group managed to find a few seats several rows behind Krei. The girl received the green light to go, and she lifted the microphone up to her mouth.

It seemed that Hiro, Hiccup, Fred, and Wasabi were the only ones who paid attention to her presentation. Everyone else was eager to jump out of their seats and call out to Krei, but they managed to resist the impulse.

"I don't see the use of a repulsion or a propulsion gel," says Hiro. "Gel that makes you jump high and gel that makes you run fast. What need is there for that considering what we have today, other than making a mess? Is anyone thinking the same thing as me?"

Apparently so, since one of the professors in the front raised his hand and went off with a question about her gel. "In what way can we possibly… apply this to our daily lives? What can we use it for?" he asks.

Everyone who heard him shot a glance at Hiro, who tried to shrink into his jacket to no avail. "No matter, all's fine."

Then they turned their attention back to the girl who was presenting. "Well, can't it just be used for fun? Puzzles and obstacle courses?"

"Ooh, I like that suggestion," whispers Fred.

The girl chuckled. "But on a more serious note," she starts, "it can be used as a quicker method of transportation, if a lot of people need to get from point A to point B in a short time. The gel can help with that. And the best part is that it washes right off any surface with no harm done whatsoever."

"That's a weak argument," whispers Wasabi, "don't you think?"

Hiro nodded. "I think she should have stayed with the fun path."

"So, would that be a yay or a nay?" asks Hiccup. "Yay as in she's in, or nay as in no?"

Hiro shrugged this time. "I'm not a judge, so I don't know what qualifies," he says, "but if I had to decide, I'd say it's a nay."

An announcement came over the PA, stating that they would be taking a short break. That was perfect, considering the fact that they still had a task to get to, and that was to speak with Krei.

Krei stood up and exited his row of seats, where Honey Lemon and Hiro immediately stepped in his way.

"Hey, Krei, I've been looking for you," says Hiro in a casual mood.

Krei began walking up the stairs, and the rest of the group joined him, Hiro, and Honey Lemon. They walked alongside, Hiro and Krei chatting away.

"So, Hiro, got yourself anything to show the audiences today?" asks Krei.

Hiro shook head. "No. I'm already a student, so I can't really present and try to get accepted a second time."

"Ah, but that doesn't mean you can't present in exhibition," mentions Krei.

"Okay, sure. But no, I haven't made anything so innovative for this showcase. You know, incomplete projects, all that."

"Bummer. I was really looking forward to seeing what you can come up with."

"But anyway, the reason I wanted to speak with you was because… well, you know that whole incident on the island a few weeks ago?"

Krei's eyes widened. He started toward a more quiet part of the stadium. "Hold up real quick."

"What's going on? You don't want anyone to hear about this?"

"Exactly."

The group followed Krei outside, on the side opposite from the main entrance. There was basically no one here, so that meant no one could overhear them.

"Sorry. People are still onto me for Silent Sparrow and the whole incident on the island. Anyway, why do you want to talk to me about it?"

"Point is," starts GoGo, "this is the guy Hiro found in the middle of the island after that whole incident." She pointed at Hiccup.

Hiccup stepped up for a one-on-one conversation with Krei. The genius in Krei didn't intimidate him a bit, and neither did his build—in fact, Hiccup stood just a bit taller than Krei.

"What's your name?" asks Krei.

"Hiccup Haddock the third."

"Age?"

"Twenty-one."

"Hometown?"

"Berk."

"Where's that?"

Hiccup turned to view the city. "From here?" He paused before he answered. "I don't know."

Krei exchanged glances with the rest of the group, and Hiro just shrugged before jumping back into the conversation. "Thing is, he's a whole millennium from his home. What I'm saying is that the portal on the island was somehow still functional after the government shut down Silent Sparrow. Somehow rigged for time travel or something… took him all the way here."

Krei seemed taken aback by Hiro's theory on how Hiccup ended up in San Fransokyo. It was certain that the process involved time travel, but what exactly caused said time travel?

"Well, I kind of have to live by the notion that nothing is impossible," admits Krei in a slightly defeated tone. "So you're saying you want be to build some time travel machine that will get him back where he belongs?"

"Precisely," says Hiro. "You're the mind behind teleportation, which means you're the closest to achieving time travel. That's why we wanted to speak with you specifically."

Krei frowned and glanced at Hiccup. "I know I want to help," he says, "but my company's campus hasn't been rebuilt, the government's eyes have been all on me since Silent Sparrow, and now they're watching me even closer since the island incident. If I get involved in this kind of thing again without their permission, I can face charges, maybe some time with Callaghan if they feel punitive. To put it short, I would like to help, but considering my current situation, I can't. Sorry."

Hiro took a deep breath. "We understand, sir."

From there, he began to walk away from everyone, and the rest of the group followed him. The left Krei to himself outside the arena with the presentations about to resume in just a few minutes.

With that, Krei returned to the stands.

* * *

"All that time for nothing. Krei can't help us to get me home," says Hiccup.

Hiro nodded. "I was ready for this response, but I wasn't expecting it to come like this. I'm sorry."

"It's all okay, it's all okay," says Hiccup, "we can just find another way to get me back. In the meantime, though, you want to keep looking around?"

Hiro smirked. "Immersing yourself in the tech, are you?"

"Yep." Hiccup sighed. "Learned how to use a phone a few days back, I can keep going until I've got enough experience so that I don't look like a clueless wanderer every time I'm alone. No dragons here is a bummer, though. I'm all out of Zippleback gas."

"That sucks," admits Hiro.

The group spent the next two hours of the showcase milling around the area, occasionally stepping into the stands in order to watch a presentation before melting back into the crowd outside. The innovations displayed ranged from tiny handheld devices all the way to a giant screen that provided loads of information.

By the time the showcase was over, Hiro finally realized how exhausted he was and decided to check the time. He sprung up when he noticed that it was already nearly eleven o'clock, so he called Hiccup and began to drag him back to the Lucky Cat Café.

Upon entering the now closed café, they noticed that Cass was, as usual, fully immersed in her television show and therefore did not notice Hiccup and Hiro entering the house.

"Oh. I just realized we left Baymax and Toothless back at the university," says Hiro.

"What?" Hiccup nearly shouts in surprise. "I just found him after a long search a week ago, now I'm at risk of losing him again? Oh, I can't really handle this. Whatever, let's go back, then."

The duo snuck behind Cass and managed to leave the café after less than five minutes, and they wasted all their energy heading back toward the university on foot. Or in Hiccup's case, foot and prosthetic.

Hiccup let out a sigh in relief upon finding Toothless hiding behind the trees. He took him back to the lab, where Hiro powered on Baymax.

"Check and check," says Hiro. "That was a bit embarrassing. Everything's set for tonight, though I Aunt Cass might still be a bit paranoid."

"I've been through the drill five times already," says Hiccup. "Right. I know that she's still a bit freaked out about seeing Toothless, but as long as we're up and out early enough in the morning, we'll be fine."

Hiro yawned. "You sure? Tomorrow's a Saturday. No classes or work or anything."

"In my book, there's no such thing as a no work day," says Hiccup. "If we can get onto the island tomorrow, maybe we can figure something out."

Both of them left the robotics lab and mounted Toothless to fly home. "Alright. Just make sure no one sees us."

* * *

"Might Heathcliff be of any help?" asks GoGo.

"What for?"

"Just in case… you know, you somehow abandon us on a spooky island again?" Wasabi shoots back.

"Too spooky for you?"

"Very," mentions Fred.

Hiro sighed. "I'd rather you not take the family chopper to the island, since that would attract too much attention. Tell you what, make sure you can at least contact Heathcliff if you need a ride back. That way if something happens, we won't all have to take turns on Toothless."

"Alright, so let's get a rundown on what could happen to Baymax," says Wasabi.

"Oh, a lot. Some piece of equipment breaks, his battery abruptly dies—worst case scenario, we end up somewhere highly undesirable."

"On top of the bay bridge?" suggests GoGo.

"Perhaps."

Just then, Hiccup and toothless came flying into the garden. Toothless landed smoothly and managed to avoid colliding with any structures, though it was clear that Fred wouldn't care if he did destroy a statue.

"Morning, nice of you to show up," teases Hiro. "Leisure flights. Got to have those, you know?"

Hiccup just shrugged indifferently. "I don't see why not."

The team had decided to drop by Fred's mansion to refresh. Hiccup couldn't imagine how the jokester—the school mascot, out of everyone—lived in one of the most luxurious homes in San Fransokyo. That didn't prevent him from planning things out, though. In fact, if anything, it served as a benefit to Hiccup due to better access to materials.

"Anyway, you ready to go?" asks Hiro."

Hiccup grinned and nodded. The rest of the team, all suited up by now, picked a spot to hang onto Baymax for the flight over to the island.

Then Toothless and Baymax both took off straight up.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So from now on I'm going to try to post more author's notes just to give you guys a heads up on how much progress I'm making with this story. Right now, I feel that the next few chapters are coming along pretty nicely.
> 
> Also, 10 points if you caught the (in my opinion, obvious) reference.


	9. IX: Akuma Island's Secret

"Still looks like the same place as before," says Snotlout. "Although I'm not sure if those rocks were right there last time we were here."

"Oh come on," says Astrid, "anything could have moved those. Besides, how would you even remember if those were there last time we were here?"

"I don't."

The riders elected to land in order to get a closer look at the place. The place felt as if a thousand warlords along with a few thousand dragons terrorized it. Then add a few tremors for good measure, and you get this island.

"For the record, have we ever seen this island like… ever?" asks Astrid. "Fishlegs? Records?"

Fishlegs popped out from behind a charred tree. "I don't believe so," he says. "Which is what's weird because an island can't just pop out of nowhere without any signal. You'd think there would be some sign that there's a new island off the course of so-and-so."

Astrid elected to ignore the twins for the time being, since it seemed that they were doing nothing productive. If they could come up with any ideas, then she'd have to give them some time to think (not like they ever think anyway).

"I still don't like it," she says.

It was cold, but everyone in the group hardly cared at all. There was a storm off to the south, moving gradually toward the island, though it wouldn't reach them for another several minutes. That was more than enough time to check the island over again.

But the oncoming storm pushed the riders away from the island the moment it began pouring. After failing to find anything interesting, they started back toward Berk.

"Astrid, I highly doubt that Hiccup had anything to do with that island," argues Fishlegs.

Astrid sighed and looked down, then back at the island, then forward. "Okay." She sighed for a moment. "Then we'll just have to keep looking."

* * *

The gang landed on the island, Baymax first dropping Fred and Honey Lemon. Hiro assumed that no one saw them. Even though there were two figures flying, one of which left an exhaust trail, he thought that they flew low enough to avoid being seen.

Though if anyone followed that trail, then they'd be able to conclude that someone was on the island. That was why Hiro wanted to act fast, gather whatever there was left that may be of use to them, and bring it back to Fred's mansion.

Hiro took off his helmet upon touching the ground, and he stopped everyone for a moment just to listen.

It was completely silent, except for a very slight buzzing sound coming from a place that Hiro could not pinpoint.

Hiro elected to lead the group, putting his helmet back on and holding his hands up. The group navigated through the part of the island that had not been destroyed last time something happened here.

It wasn't anything interesting—just trees, and more trees, and the bay surrounding them.

Ahead of them was the part of the island that was ruined. The part of the island that hosted Krei's facility and the entire Silent Sparrow project. The buzzing grew louder, and Hiro immediately shushed anyone who attempted to talk.

Hiro gave the group the green light to venture out into the ruined area, and so they dispersed from there in order to cover a larger area, though they always remained close enough so they could see and hear each other.

Eventually Wasabi spoke up after he stepped on something that did not feel like grass or shrubbery. He cleared out a bunch of sticks and leaves from a spot on the ground. "Over here guys," he calls out, waving at everyone.

Hiro and Hiccup were the first to appear next to him, with Baymax following shortly after. GoGo and Honey Lemon arrived last, in no particular hurry.

"It's a hatch," says Hiro. He and Hiccup exchanged glances, and then he bent down and pulled the handle. It was pretty wide, at least enough for Baymax and Toothless to be able to fit.

To nobody's surprise, the trapdoor remained shut. Hiro then laid eyes on Wasabi. "Care to do the honors?"

It didn't take a genius to know what Hiro wanted Wasabi to do, but it doesn't hurt when everyone in the area is one. Wasabi activated his laser induced plasma blades and immediately started cutting into the hatch.

It took him about a minute to get it right after veering off course a few times, but Wasabi did manage to cut a hole large enough for everyone to fit inside. Baymax lifted the remains of the door and discarded them into the bay, eliciting several stares from the gang.

"Well, that was hardly necessary," mentions Hiro.

There was a ladder that led down. Past that, it was dark—none of the lights down there were powered on and probably haven't been used since Silent Sparrow's abandoning.

Everyone climbed down, the ladder only going down a few feet. Once everyone was down, there was nothing but a dark, wide passageway in front of them. The floor was at an angle, which most likely meant this structure went further underground and possibly under the bay. The place's size, though, was unknown to the entire group.

"Hiccup, light?" asks Hiro.

"Can't you do it yourself? I'm basically out of Nightmare gel by now," replies Hiccup.

"I don't want to drain Baymax's battery so quickly."

"How long does it last?"

"A week tops, but the main issue is when you keep him doing so many things. Even if I brought both a spare and his charging station, the main goal when we're out of combat is to keep Baymax from working so hard so he can keep his battery up. If he goes out, then we're in for some trouble getting back."

Toothless elected to take the liberty of providing light for the group. He fired a shot down the tunnel, giving everyone a quick glance of what was far down before holding a steady flame in his maw.

"You know who else can help a bit with lighting?" asks GoGo.

"Who?"

"Fred."

"Forget it. I'm not going to run a higher risk of burning anything. I'm pretty sure a dragon can handle fire better than Fred—no offense, Fred."

"None taken," replies Fred.

Everyone stopped arguing from there, and they allowed Hiccup and Toothless to lead the group down the tunnel. Wasabi seemed especially perturbed by the fact that he could barely see anything, to the point where he nearly squealed every time someone bumped into him.

It didn't take long for the entrance to feel really distant. For Hiro, the buzzing sound grew a bit louder, and soon he could hear it clearly past the other background noises.

"How long does this go down?" asks Honey Lemon. She took a glance back up, and the entrance was now a mere speck of light in her vision. Other than that, it was darkness.

Toothless stopped with the light, and then he let out a noise that ended up echoing in the tunnel.

"What's he doing?" asks Hiro. It was apparent that he, along with everyone else in the group, was slightly irritated about not being able to see.

"Echolocation," says Hiccup. "I trust you know what it is."

"Night Furies have that ability?"

"Sure they do." Hiccup sounded completely relaxed in the pitch-blackness. "I guess that ties into its name since they're also pretty impossible to see at night."

Toothless took up his job in providing light once again, and then the group continued on their path down the tunnel. They could see the left and right sides of the tunnel, but either end was out of sight.

From the look Toothless gave him, Hiccup concluded that the end was nowhere near. So far, on their way down, there have been no doors that branched off to other rooms or passageways, which meant they were just stuck heading down this way.

It was wide enough for Toothless and Baymax to fly through, so there was that if they ever needed a quick way back up.

The buzzing sound that has been bugging Hiro since landing on the island refused to subside. Everyone else in the group began to notice it as well.

Eventually, they managed to reach a door on the right side of the tunnel that was, as expected, sealed shut.

"To think that Krei's project went this far," mentions Hiro.

Wasabi took on the task of cutting through the door while the group stood back. He managed to get through in just a few seconds. "Whew! I'm getting pretty good at that," he says.

The first thing everyone noticed after Baymax tossed away the remains of the door was that the lights were on.

The place seemed like a whole new building—it was huge! From the door, a catwalk led to what seemed to be a control room overlooking the entire area.

Everyone in the group stared in awe for a few seconds before Hiro chose to go ahead and head over to the control room to get a better view of everything.

It was not too different from the testing area the first time they were introduced to project Silent Sparrow. The room looked mostly similar, save for the size (it was at least three times as large) and coloration.

"Look over there," says Hiro, pointing at something hanging from the testing area. "That looks like part of a portal frame."

Despite the provided light in the area, it was still too dark to see much of anything. No one in the group dared to head to the control room to tamper with anything, for the sake of keeping it safe.

"Toothless, lights," says Hiccup.

Toothless gave the group some more light to work with in the room, having shot it at a support beam next to the portal frame. This allowed Hiro to scrutinize the part that he thought to be a part of a portal frame, and he confirmed his suspicions upon spotting the Silent Sparrow insignia on the framework.

"I guess this is probably an earlier version of their experiment," says Hiro. He squinted at the floor, where he could barely spot the rest of the portal frame. "One that failed."

Honey Lemon powered on the computers in the control room to search for anything useful—perhaps photos or videos stashed away here to be forgotten as a failure to the Silent Sparrow project. Any records that could give the group information about project Silent Sparrow.

It took her several minutes before she reached a conclusion. During that time, the rest of the group decided to venture out into the testing area in search of anything else.

There was another portal under the control room, and this one wasn't broken apart like the other. Needless to say, it appeared to be powered off, though the buzzing in the area was at the loudest it's ever been at.

Honey Lemon rejoined the rest of the group, jumping down from the catwalk and landing next to GoGo.

Now that everyone could hear the buzzing, Hiro gradually approached the inactive portal, everyone following closely behind him. Everyone remained silent, and the buzzing was, once again, the only thing to listen to.

There came the sound of thunder from outside. It was extremely faint since they were so far down, but it was there. "Sounds like a storm," mentions Wasabi.

"Shh!" Hiro shushes him. He held up a hand and signaled for Hiccup and Honey Lemon.

Both of them stepped forward to join Hiro, who was now standing just in front of the intact portal frame. "Can we get some light from Toothless?" requests Hiro. "I want Baymax to take a few more pictures so we can look this over back at the mansion."

Hiccup nodded and then glanced at Toothless, who tilted his head in curiosity. "Go ahead," says Hiccup, pointing straight up. He wanted the light in a spot where everyone could see the interesting part, but not so that the images appeared too bright.

But the moment Toothless fired the bolt straight up to light up the area, the buzzing grew louder before a soft hum joined it.

Everyone exchanged several glances, and Hiro brought his ear closer to the portal frame. "Yep, this is definitely what's causing all the noise," he says. "Thing just needed a little nudge."

Hiro lightly kicked the portal frame, and the humming stuttered a bit before stabilizing again.

Curious to see if it was working, Honey Lemon grabbed a stone from nearby and tossed it through the portal frame. The stone disappeared, but it didn't reappear anywhere.

"That's weird," says Hiro. "It seems completely stable with no output."

He tossed another rock through the portal, and it disappeared just like last one without having the portal break apart. Then he went as far as putting a part of his arm in, and then he pulled it back out. Nothing happened to it.

Hiro then looked back at the rest of the group. "I think we all came here knowing what we're risking," he tells them. "I'm going in."

"Wait, what?" exclaims a wide-eyed Wasabi. "Do you even know what can happen to you?"

"Yes."

"I'm in," says Hiccup. "I guess it's now or never." He stopped to pint at the rest of the group. "If you don't want to take this risk, then I understand. But for me, I guess it's now or never."

Everyone else in the group exchanged glances, and Honey Lemon was the first to step up. "What are we waiting for?" she asks.

Hiro grinned, and Fred, GoGo, Wasabi, and Honey Lemon each took a spot on Baymax. Hiccup had Toothless, obviously.

Baymax lifted into the air and picked up GoGo and Fred, who both elected to fly by Baymax's arms. Toothless and Hiccup back up, and then the two took off straight into the portal.

The rest of the gang followed suit.

* * *

" _Oh look, it's pink."_

It was dark outside. Nobody knew what was going on—they couldn't see anything, but they could hear the sound of rain and thunder.

Baymax was the only one up, and he was caring for everyone, including Hiccup and Toothless. He managed to find a spot for shelter from the storm, and he carried everyone over to it except for Toothless.

There was a cough from Honey Lemon and Fred, and Fred let out a bit of fire to light up the area. Getting the idea, Baymax decided to provide some light for the two who were already conscious.

"Anyone… okay?" asks Fred, hyperventilating.

Honey Lemon also sounded out of breath, and she rushed over to the others the moment she saw them on the ground. "Guys?"

Hiccup was the next one to wake up, rolling over and struggling to stand up for about a minute. He stood shakily, his legs (or leg, perhaps) feeling like jelly.

Then came Hiro, GoGo, and finally Wasabi, all sitting up the moment they opened their eyes. They looked around, completely unaware of where they were, and then calmed down upon seeing Baymax and the others.

Toothless appeared at the mouth of the cave to rejoin the group. "We're in a storm," mentions Hiro. "Baymax still has his backup battery if we need it. Charging station, though, we can't use it right now."

"Okay," says GoGo. "What's important right now is that we're all fine. Let's wait this out and press on from there. Wait for day, probably."

"Light out for now, Baymax," says Hiro.

Everyone sat in pitch-blackness, and Wasabi sounded especially perturbed. He kept his back to the cave wall, breathing deeply.

Some of the group went back to sleep—it was easy for Hiccup, since he was used to sleeping in this kind of environment, but it was a bit more complicated for Honey Lemon and Hiro. After a bit of moving around and repositioning, though, they managed to catch some shuteye. GoGo decided to keep Baymax on low-power mode to retain battery life.

Morning soon came, and the storm had been reduced to just a light drizzle. Several figures flew in the sky toward the rising sun, which caught Fred's curiosity. He grabbed Wasabi and GoGo, since they were the only ones awake, and took them to the cave entrance to watch what looked like a flock of birds flying in a strange formation.

But they seemed too large to be birds, and it looked like something was hanging in a net from underneath. They were heading straight toward them, and as they approached it became apparent that they were _not_ birds.

Fred, Wasabi, and GoGo exchanged glances. GoGo went back into the cave to wake everyone up and set Baymax back to normal battery consumption.

Yawning, Hiccup reached the mouth of the cave to find the figures almost at the island by now. "Oh, that's just some Nadders, Zipplebacks, Monstrous Nightmares… is that a Gronckle over there?"

"That means we're at the archipelago," says Hiro, "if we're seeing dragons, then you've just become the host of the party, and we're the visitors."

Wasabi stared at Hiro.

"Anyway," starts Hiro, "it's morning. Let's look around."

Hiccup watched as the dragons flew directly overhead. They might have seen him and the group, but it was apparent that they didn't care a bit.

The rest of the group left the cave and headed back to the main part of the island, where there was the same buzzing that had bugged them the entire time they were on Akuma Island.

After a bit of exploring, Hiccup spotted a circle of boulders, the same one that possessed the strange force that led him to San Fransokyo. "Yep, we're home," he says. "You see that rock formation right there?" He pointed at the circle.

"The one that clearly looks like it shouldn't be there? How could I not?" says Hiro. "What about it?"

"That was the thing that brought me to San Fransokyo," explains Hiccup. "I don't know how. We landed in the middle of it and somehow ended up in the city."

Hiro tossed a stone over the boulders into the circle, and they listened as it plopped onto the ground behind the wall. "Doesn't sound like it's active right now," says Hiccup, "but I swear, with this buzzing…"

"I know. It's annoying," says Hiro. "Anyway, how far is Berk from here?"

"Maybe a few hours flying," says Hiccup.

Everyone else had caught up by now.

Hiro bolted to Baymax. "Find a spot, guys," he says, securing the magnetic pads on his suit to Baymax's armor.

Hiccup and Toothless were already in the air by the time the others got everything sorted out.

"Baymax, follow Hiccup and Toothless," commands Hiro.

Baymax took off, and the entire group started away from the island, back to Berk.

The flight took a few hours, which happened to be a few hours filled mostly with open ocean and the occasional little island. Other than water and the occasional island or cloud, there was nothing to see. Baymax continued to take pictures anyway. It couldn't hurt.

Hiccup vaguely remembered what time of the year it was when he left Berk—it was nearing the end of the warmer season, which meant that the days would be getting progressively shorter as they went on.

That explained why the sun was only up for about nine hours that day. They were still above open ocean, and Honey Lemon had to develop some concoction in order to keep her from falling off Baymax. Fred at it easier on the other arm, since it was Baymax who was holding him by the suit.

By the time Berk came into view, the sun was already down. Hiccup could barely see the village from his current spot, but it wasn't hard to see that a good portion of it had gone up in flames.

Hiccup gave Hiro a worried glance. "I don't know," he says to him. "Stay here."

Hiro squinted in an attempt to get a better look at Berk. "You see what's going on over there?" asks Hiro.

"I see that the village is on fire," says Fred.

"Yeah, thanks for that, Fred," acknowledges Wasabi sarcastically. "But I can't get anything."

"Baymax?" asks Hiro.

It took a while for Baymax to get everything, and he decided to take the time to scan everyone in the village. "There are multiple injured," he informs them.

Just then, Hiccup came flying back to them. "Uh… perhaps we went back a little too far."


	10. X: Spy

Hiccup and Hiro had Toothless and Baymax land low on the island so that no one would spot them. Hiro wasn't exactly sure about how visible Baymax was in the night sky without any artificial light in the area. With the dragon raid preoccupying the people in the village, though, getting onto the island was easy.

From there, the gang took a short break before they started walking. Hiccup, having lived on the island since he was born, took the lead and slowly progressed through the forest so that the others didn't fall behind. The truth was, he could have reached the village in just several minutes, and even faster on Toothless, but then they would have to run the risk of either losing the rest of the team or running into an angry Viking.

The noises one would expect to hear in a dragon raid were absent—they were still too far from the action, and Hiccup wanted to keep it that way. He guessed that the others would want to do so as well—even with their gear, they had no idea how each dragon worked and therefore would barely stand a chance, if any.

There was a loud wail off in the distance that gradually grew louder. A figure went hurling straight over the group, giving them quite a scare. Several trees went with it. It tumbled down a slope, over a slight incline, and disappeared downhill.

It came as no surprise that everyone went to investigate. Baymax had to provide light for the group, and he shined it in the direction that the figure fell.

Hiccup gritted his teeth and reeled back the moment he saw what it was. "Wow. We're about five years off," he says.

Toothless peeked over the incline to see what was down there, and his only response was to rest his head on the ground and watch its actions.

The figure down there was Toothless, entangled in a bola—the situation seemed all too familiar to Hiccup. Completely incapacitated, he attempted to writhe free from the bounds of the rope, but failed miserably.

"What's going on down there?" asks Honey Lemon.

Wasabi seemed bothered watching Old Toothless struggle. "He looks like he's dying. I don't like it," he says, taking a position next to Hiccup. "Do we cut the rope?"

"No," says Hiccup sternly. "This is basically the story of my life playing out right now," he explains.

"So what are you going to do?" asks Hiro.

"I'm going to spy on myself."

That left the entire group stunned and silent. It was definitely a weird thing to hear, but when time travel is taken into account and you just happen to end up such an important time, it feels completely normal.

"Okay…" Fred trails off. "Anyone else got a problem with what he just said?"

Nobody responded, which meant that no one had an issue with what Hiccup just said. Apparently, Fred was the only one who didn't seem to get it, so it took a bit of explaining from Wasabi and GoGo.

"The process is going to take a while," says Hiccup, "and we'll be on this island for quite some time. What that means for Hiro is…" he lifts a finger and points it at Baymax, "we're going to need to find a way to keep his battery up. So we've got about five and a half days left on that battery, along with a whole week's worth on the other. No outlets here, so you can't charge him."

Hiro glanced up at Baymax. "Sorry, bud."

"I know we are going to be here a while," says Baymax, "I understand if you have to use me sparingly."

"That means you're just going to have to fight through anything that happens to bite you," explains Hiccup. "If it gets severe, though, then we'll call in Baymax. But the biggest rule we want to follow while we're at it: Don't. Interfere. With. Anything. I don't care if it looks like someone's about to die—if you change one thing, then we're all screwed."

"Ah, so I see you went to the school of handling time travel," teases Hiro.

"Nah, just watched a lot of movies in San Fran," replies Hiccup. "Things are a gem when you find out what the lesson is.

"Anyway," he continues, "I know how everything plays out, and I'm sure I don't appear here for another few hours—at least till morning. I say for now, we find a safe spot to put Baymax and rest up a bit."

They all managed to agree on that, and Hiccup guided them back through the forest, making sure to keep clear of the dragon in the bolas. Obviously, Hiccup couldn't keep tabs of every part of the island he visited while training Toothless, so he knew he would just have to pick a spot and pray that no one finds them.

Eventually, after strolling around on the beach for several minutes, the group found a hole in the side of the cliff. It was inaccessible without the help of a dragon, though Hiccup looked to remedy that issue. Due to its out-of-the-way position on the island, Hiccup declared this cave to be a good hideout for the time being. From there, they could watch all the events unfold, while at the same time planning on returning to San Fransokyo.

Hiccup and Hiro flew up first, and the first thing Hiro did was set Baymax's charging station down in the cave. He wouldn't be able to charge Baymax, but at least it would keep him from getting in the way.

Fred easily reached the cave with a super jump, and Honey Lemon managed to make a concoction to get everyone else up.

"Oh, look at that, it seems we won't need a special setup to get up here," says Hiro upon noticing that everyone was up.

Hiccup just shrugged, suppressing a grin. "I guess not."

They all agreed on getting some rest while waiting for the sun to rise. The raid on the opposite side of the island was still ongoing, so Toothless made sure to keep an eye out for any dragons or Vikings who may have drifted away during the attack.

Everyone slept for a few hours, all of them snoozing even after sunrise. The first to wake up was Hiro, who immediately saw that it was daytime and promptly woke everyone else. "Rise and shine, everyone!" he calls out.

The rest of the group sat up from their spots in the cave. Hiccup was the first one all the way up, and he climbed down right away. "You might want to get down here right now if you want to see the first part of the story of my life," he says to everyone else. "You know, you could learn a thing or two, and right now, with no way of getting back to San Fran, it's the only thing we can do."

That was when the others crawled out of the cave, still waking up after last night's events. They all climbed down, and soon the only one who wasn't out was Baymax—completely understandable, since Hiro did want to be frugal when it came to using Baymax.

They began the trek up the forest from the beach, voices kept lower than a whisper the entire time. It took a bit of walking around before Hiccup managed to find the point of interest, and then he signaled for everyone to stop.

"Listen," he says, "that sounds like me."

"Ow!" yelps a voice from somewhere to their left.

They listened as a tree branch snapped, and then waited for a few seconds to hear a heavy gasp. Pinpointing the sound, Toothless guided the group to the spot they were at last night when the figure came crashing down.

Peeking out from behind the trees, everyone watched as scrawny little fourteen-year-old Hiccup approached the downed dragon in a manner that made him seem shocked, delighted, and frightened. To be frank, he seemed more frightened.

"Was that really how vulnerable I looked from the back?" Hiccup asks from behind a tree.

A few minutes of simply watching the past versions of Hiccup and Toothless passed, and then Hiro nearly stepped forward when the dragon had the little Viking pinned against a rock. Hiccup held his hand up, though, in order to stop Hiro.

"You're going to die," protests Hiro.

"No I'm not," Hiccup shoots back, "I know what happens, and no one is going to interfere with my, well, our—Toothless's and my—past."

Out of nowhere, past Toothless unleashed a vociferous roar right into past Hiccup before bounding straight out of the area. The entire group watched from distance as the dragon tore through the forest, and then fell down due to a sudden drop in the terrain.

"Okay, let's move," says Hiccup, sneaking off into a different part of the forest.

Everyone else followed behind him, ignoring the fact that the fourteen-year-old version of Hiccup just fainted and was lying on the ground, completely vulnerable.

Hiccup decided to take a longer path in order to ensure that they don't run into anyone. He already had his destination in mind, and knowing the island really well helped him tremendously.

They ran a quick check on the area that they would be watching for most of the time—a bright cove, half of it consisting of a large pond. The walls of rocks were just high enough that an average-sized dragon couldn't climb out of it.

In the cove was the past version of Toothless, mulling over his options as he strolled back and forth around the cove. Hiro immediately noticed the lost tail fin and started talking in a low whisper.

"When did he lose the fin?" asks Hiro.

"Sometime during his tumble last night," answers Hiccup. "I'm guessing he clipped a tree somewhere or the bola did a number on it—I don't know."

He then looked back in the direction of the village and signaled to the rest of the group. "Come on. I think we're done for today."

They went with Hiccup back to the beach where their hideout was. There was nothing interesting for them to look at on the way there, so nobody wasted any time just wandering around.

The group entered the cave one at a time, and then Hiccup requested that they stay quiet for just a minute, for quick briefing.

"We'll have to wait the day out," says Hiccup. "Most of the village will be leaving in several hours. After that, we can move around the island more freely."

"What should we want us to do until then?" asks Honey Lemon.

"Sleep, just get some rest for now, especially you three." Hiccup pointed specifically at GoGo, Wasabi, and Fred.

Fred just groaned in response.

"I know, boring. Believe me, I can read someone's body language and tell when they don't want to listen to me rambling on for a few minutes. I've been around that for much too long," says Hiccup. "You can have your fun once we get back to San Fran. That is, if we can find a way to get back to San Fran. There's really no reason for us to be here right now, so we might as well spend the garbage time spying on my past self while we're at it.

"I'll see later if I can snatch some food from the village. But for now, just rest."

* * *

"Look, Astrid, this whole thing is a lost cause," says Fishlegs. "This is the seventh time we've been on this island and we've seen nothing weird in any of the seven times!"

But Astrid, as she and the rest of the riders knew, was stubborn. "If we're not looking for him, then maybe we're just waiting for him to come here," she says in an attempt to find another reason to keep searching on the island. "A torn-up and crisped island like this is surely the kind that would lure Hiccup and Toothless."

Due to her insistence to keep returning to this island, however, the other riders began to lose hope in the search. There was the possibility that Hiccup had gone missing, or that someone (or something) somewhere had taken him down.

The latter was the part that nobody wanted to think about. It was much too early to already discuss the crowning of a new chief, and while one of the Jorgensons (i.e. Snotlout or Spitelout) would be the easy choice, the rest of the group knew that they would want to prevent that. Snotlout wasn't even sure what made a good leader.

The twins just dawdled around on the island, waiting for Astrid to make the call to go home. Snotlout sat alone next to Hookfang, looking out to the sea. Fishlegs continued wasting his time attempting to convince Astrid to finally let go of the island, but even he gave up after what must have been the thirtieth time.

"Fine," says Astrid out of nowhere. "There's nothing on this island. We'll continue our search due north starting tomorrow. Until then, let's go home."

The few hours it took to reach Berk were filled with absolutely nothing. Just a boring flight in a straight line. To a regular Viking, it would have been thrilling to fly in a straight line, but to the riders of Berk, it was just a blasé action.

Once they did get back, they found Gobber once again struggling to hold up the village on his own, so they had to step in and offer a hand. It took about an hour to get everything in the village back on track, but it was a lot better once they did.

"Still nothing," reports Astrid.

"How long has it been now?" asks Valka. "A month?"

Astrid nodded hesitantly. "I still haven't lost hope, even though the rest of the group seems to be doing so. I'm not sure how everything's going out there, but I can guess it's fine for now."

A clap of thunder interrupted their conversation in the Meade Hall. Valka pressured Astrid to return to her home for shelter, and Astrid complied.

_Hiccup, where in Thor's name could you be?_

* * *

"Fish?" asks Hiro.

"Oh, come on!" exclaims Hiccup. "Aren't you five from San Fransokyo? The city by the bay? I'm sure you guys already eat lots of fish back at home. Couple more can't hurt, you know." He dropped the entire basket onto the floor, and Toothless snatched the tail of one that was hanging out.

"Pacific, not Atlantic," mentions Wasabi.

Hiccup just shrugged. "It's still saltwater," he says. "You'll be fine. Since we can't really watch my past self tomorrow without getting spotted by some village wanderer, we'll be heading back to that island to look around the place. But for now, dig in."

Only Hiccup and Toothless ate for the first minute, and then Fred happened to be the first to reach out toward the basket. There was already a small fire in the cave—you couldn't exactly cook a fish off of it, but it was at least enough to heat up your food before eating it.

"You sure I won't get sick eating this?" asks Wasabi as he uses his plasma blades to slice his fish into smaller pieces.

"We've got Baymax," says Hiccup. "Plenty of battery life left. If anyone gets sick, we can power him on for just a few minutes to take care of whoever it happens to be."

"But we'll need him to fly back over to the island," says Hiro.

"How much does he have left, five days?" asks Hiccup.

Hiro nodded at the estimate. It seemed reasonable, at least.

"So, I'll estimate it takes about… eh… four hours to fly from here to the island if we take a direct path," says Hiccup. "That still leaves plenty of time for Baymax. Hopefully, we can get back to San Fran right away."

"To figure out how that time machine works?" asks Hiro.

"Whoa, whoa—that's what you're going to be calling it from now on?" intervenes Wasabi.

Hiro just shrugged as he swallowed a piece of his fish. "That's essentially what it is," he says. "Might as well call it that. And hopefully we can figure out how to work the thing so we can get Hiccup back to the right year."

"You had to kick it to get it working last time," mentions GoGo. "How are you supposed to 'set' it to bring you to the right year?"

Again, Hiro shrugged. "That's what we'll have to figure out when we're there. But I think it's the best for all of us—even Hiccup—if we were in San Fransokyo right now. So that's our new mission from now on."

A fleet of ships caught the group's attention from the cave. It seemed small, though they could barely see the thing since it was on a different part of the island.

When everyone except Hiccup and Hiro had fallen asleep, Hiro decided that it was time for them to talk.

"Look, Hiccup, I've been… kind of hiding something from you," says Hiro.

"What's that?"

"You know, at San Fransokyo, why we don't have dragons there?"

Hiccup didn't know. "You just said that you don't have dragons."

"Well… oh god, I don't really know how else to word this… but it's because it's taught—at least taught—in schools that dragons went extinct exactly 1000 years before the year it is in San Fransokyo."

That came to Hiccup like he had been fed a brick. To learn that dragons were about to go extinct held him confused for at least a few minutes. Couple that with the fact that his generation was probably going to be the last to see them, and it was a surprise that he hadn't knocked himself out yet.

"I would get my hopes down right now if I were you, though," says Hiro. " _A lot_ of things taught in schools are wrong. Like… who thought the Coriolis Effect influences water in a sink, or that glass is a liquid?

"Point here is, there is a chance… there is a chance… that everyone's wrong, and there are still dragons during our time. Perhaps somewhere in a place where we can't find them, even with the greatest tech in the world."

"Gee, thanks. That helps after you almost gave me a heart attack there," says Hiccup. "You do know me, don't you? You know I always look at the slim chances and hope that, in this case, dragons are not extinct in the year 2056."

Hiro shrugged. "Guess we'll have to find out one way or another."

Once morning came, the group noticed that Hiccup and Toothless were gone. Honey Lemon was the first to alert Hiro of the missing party member, and Hiro immediately went scrambling around the cave and the beach for Hiccup.

Wasabi powered on Baymax, though the enhanced scanner was built into the robot's helmet. Since only Hiro knew how to put on Baymax's armor, Baymax couldn't find Hiccup himself.

After a few minutes of panicking to no avail, Hiccup and Toothless came landing on the beach. Hiccup was holding something in his hands, which he plopped down on the beach. "Managed to snatch this somehow," says Hiccup.

Hiro shot an annoyed look at Hiccup before picking up the leather-bound book and opening it to the first page. "Translation? This is in Runic characters, not Roman."

Hiccup had completely forgotten about that when he went to grab the book. He had grown so used to reading Roman characters in San Fransokyo that it didn't even cross his mind that the Dragon Manual would be in runes.

"Right," he says, taking the book back. "I'll make sure to write it up in Roman characters later. Anyway, I'm just going to drop this off back at the village and we'll be off to that island."

Hiccup then took off again to the other side of the island, and Hiro just realized that he forgot to put on Baymax's armor. He climbed back into the cave and had to struggle with the robot for a few minutes, and Hiccup and Toothless were already back by the time he managed to get the last piece on.

"Right, so we're all set to go?" asks Hiccup, surveying the entire group.

Everyone answered with a 'yes' in some form or another, be it a nod or a verbal acknowledgement. The group took the same spots as last time, and then Baymax lifted off before starting in a direction toward the other island. Hiccup and Toothless followed, and they soon caught up.

For the sake of the four figures hanging from Baymax's wings and arms, Hiccup and Hiro decided to take the speed up a few notches. Not so much that they threatened to shake off the others, but enough so that they could remain comfortable while still travelling quickly through the air.

They also rose up a bit higher the further they got from the village, though they made sure to dip right back down upon spotting a fleet of ships. In this archipelago, anything that moves through the air and leaves a trail could be easily tracked down, and since most Vikings have associated the term 'airborne' with dragons, they didn't want to run the risk of having to confront hunters later.

It still took a while to reach the island, which seemed to be in the same condition it was in when they left it the other night. Granted, they couldn't see much when they appeared here, but it seemed to be the same as they had left it.

It was much cleaner and nicer, though, than when Hiccup and Toothless came across the place for the first time. The first time the duo came across this place, there were all sorts of sorcery-like events happening. This time, it seemed calm.

But the same circle of desolation in the same valley was still there, but there was no sign that anything was going on with it. No buzzing, no rumbling, nothing.

They landed on top of a hill, and Hiccup pointed down toward the lifeless smidge on the island. "You see that? That's the part of the island I landed in and somehow ended up in San Fransokyo. Anyone hear anything right now?"

"Other than your voice, no," says Fred.

Hiro managed to catch onto a faint windup noise, as if something were just powering on. "Well, now I do. Just listen closer."

The rest of the gang couldn't hear it, though, at least not until the winding-up sound settled into the same buzz on Akuma Island.

"Your ears are pretty sensitive, are they?" asks Hiccup. "Anyway, this should work…" he lobbed a stone directly at the circle, and it disappeared just as he had expected.

Something small came flying out of the circle, something extremely difficult to see in the air. No one could see it coming until it buried itself in the ground right in front of Honey Lemon.

Of course, Honey Lemon isn't oblivious. She picked up the little object that the field spat out, and right away showed it to Hiro. "Microbot."

Hiro glanced at her, took the microbot from her hands, and snapped it in two before dropping it right where he was. "Doesn't matter. No one has a neurotransmitter in the 1000's so we should be good.

"Anyway, are we landing in there?"

Hiccup was already on Toothless. "Yep," he says, "I'll see you on the other side."

Everyone else rushed over to their spots on Baymax, and Hiccup and Toothless had already disappeared by the time Baymax took to the air. After contact with the ground within the circle, the rest of them disappeared as well.


	11. XI: Back Again

Hiccup and Toothless came out first, followed by Baymax, Hiro, Wasabi, GoGo, Honey Lemon, and Fred. Everyone had to take a few seconds in order to recuperate before talking.

"Well, look at that," starts Hiro, "the thing didn't knock us all out like last time."

"And look where we are," mentions Honey Lemon. "We're in the same place as last time. Portal's even right there." She pointed at the portal that they had just come out of.

"How long has it been?" asks Wasabi. "Baymax?"

"It is exactly 13:37, October 1, 2056," says Baymax. "1:37 PM if you want it in the 12-hour format."

"That means it's been…" Hiro pauses for a moment to do the math, "ten minutes since we went through," says Hiro. "Let's go back to Fred's place for now, though. Just recollect, then we can come back and figure out how to work this thing. Who needs Krei anyway?"

GoGo shrugged. "Well, he's the one who built this thing. None of us could have done that with what we have."

"And it's going Big Hero 6's little secret," mentions Hiro. "If anyone important figures out about this time machine, they're shutting it down without any questions."

They all started back up the tunnel to the surface. "I don't think it'll be too difficult to keep hidden," says Hiro. "All we need is to cover it up, and we're good. Nobody comes to this island anyway. The only complicated part will be getting on and off the island without anyone looking."

The walk up the tunnel was long, tiring, and extremely boring for the entire group. It was much tougher going up than coming down, though that didn't come as a surprise for anyone. They couldn't close the door to the portal room because Wasabi broke it. The same went for the trapdoor at the top that led down here, which seemed to complicate things, especially since Baymax discarded the thing into the bay.

Thankfully, Baymax managed to lift what was left of the door to the portal room and carry it up to the surface. No one in the group had noticed it until they were already all the way up, and no one knew why Baymax had taken it until he covered up the hole in the ground.

"Ah," says Wasabi in realization, "that was good." He wiped some water off his visor.

"Oh look at that, it's raining," mentions Hiccup, seemingly half-bored, "and a bit too foggy for my taste."

"Welcome to the bay," says Hiro. "And that's fine. That means no one's going to see us leaving the place."

The group applied very lackluster layer of natural cover over the door. Just some twigs and leaves would probably blow away anyway. They weren't too worried—no one could see the metal door unless they were on the island anyway.

Then they were off to Fred's mansion, where they met earlier that morning. It was good to know that barely any time would pass while they were away at the archipelago, so they didn't have to worry about having any activities in the archipelago interfere with urgent matters in San Fransokyo.

Everyone went inside right when Toothless and Baymax landed in a garden. Hiro, Wasabi, GoGo, Honey Lemon, and Fred all changed out of their suits into regular street clothes, while Hiccup was already in his normal apparel.

Hiccup decided to sit with everyone in one of the living rooms with nothing but a pencil and a piece of paper. The others simply went to relax on the couches around the room, ignoring the portraits of all of Fred's fantasies.

It took a while for Hiccup to write up an agenda and take some notes. He slammed his pencil onto the desk and started talking without any warning.

"Okay, so, here's our list of priorities," starts Hiccup. He gave the others a few seconds to pull everything together before he started talking again.

"What would that be?" asks Hiro.

"We're going to work off the assumption that dragons are not extinct at this time and find out what caused them to go into hiding for so long," explains Hiccup. "If we're talking around a thousand years ago, then that falls about into my time.

What I'm thinking of is that we should figure out how to work the time machine before trying anything too crazy. That way we'll be able to go to whenever we want without any issues. Getting back to the year 2056, though, I'm not so concerned about that part. I got here twice already without making a mistake… well… the first time was an accident, but you get what I mean."

The others took a bit of time to break down everything Hiccup just said—it was quite a mouthful, and a lot of it had seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Once we get the thing working to our will, then I want to go back to sometime after the supposed 'extinction' just to figure out what's happened in the archipelago," continues Hiccup. "I know we're going to end up jumping everywhere around time, but I guess we'll just have to deal with it."

"You know, maybe we can find out what we're going to be going up against in that archipelago, as far as the dragons go," mentions Wasabi. "As in, what should we do if we end up alone with this dragon?"

Hiro nodded in agreement. "That's right," he says. "You did promise that you'd translate that book to Roman characters, right?"

"I don't have it memorized," says Hiccup. "I know a lot, but I don't know _everything_."

"That's okay!" exclaims Hiro. "Then just type up what you know, and we can work off of that."

Hiccup just shrugged. "Okay," he says, "I'll do it once we get back to the café."

They spent about another hour planning, and then everyone else decided that they wanted to go home. Soon, it was just Hiccup, Toothless, Hiro, Baymax, and Fred left at the house.

Even then, Hiccup and Hiro elected to go back to the café, giving Fred a quick goodbye before stepping out into the rain to head back. Hiro wasn't in his suit, so they had to walk through a less busy portion of the city to avoid any pedestrians who may spot Toothless or Baymax.

Hiro remembered that he and Hiccup were still playing by the notion that Toothless was some robotics project at the university, just as a cover up to prevent Aunt Cass from suspecting anything else. The two of them made sure to greet Aunt Cass the second they reached the café, and then they headed upstairs with the excuse being more homework from school.

Hiro just scoffed once they were upstairs. "Heh. Nerd school. Never really had any problems with it," he says. "Anyway, what might be more useful for our current plan would be a dragon school—you know, so we know all the different types of dragons."

"Okay, okay," says Hiccup, slightly irritated. "I'll get that typed up soon. Geez, you're quite eager to start learning about them, I'm surprised you didn't ask me to type up some database sometime in the few weeks I've been here."

* * *

Their break back in San Fransokyo ended up lasting a bit longer than they had expected. Hiccup and Hiro both hoped that they would only have to rest about until the next day. In reality, though, it took a lot long time for Hiccup to finish typing up the database on dragons—he knew a lot more than he thought he did.

Another thing they had to do during their time in San Fransokyo was analyzing all the pictures and videos Baymax managed to take on Berk. Though the exact year was unspecified, it was better than having nothing.

First was the few pictures of the island they ended up on after traveling back in time, and then there were a few overhead shots of Berk from when they arrived there during the dragon raid. Needless to say, the village looked quite chaotic in the midst of the attack.

Hiro also decided to slap on a few extra upgrades for Baymax, just for the sake of convenience and navigation. It should help them get around the archipelago without losing their way, although Hiccup already knew his way around a good portion of the place.

What was supposed to be a one-day break turned into a one-week break, though the schedule change didn't really bother anyone anyway. They still had to get back to the island and figure out how to work the time machine to send them back to the correct time.

Baymax and Toothless landed on Akuma Island, and most of the group was surprised to see the broken door still covering up the hole that led to the tunnel. They needed Baymax to lift the thing out of the way, and this time he just set it off to the side rather than dumping it into the bay.

"Back to the archipelago… I'm hoping at the right time, but considering the circumstances, we'll have to try this using trial and error," says Hiccup.

"That's what I don't like," says Hiro. "Playing with time and having to test with trial and error can be dangerous."

"Agreed," says Honey Lemon, "I think we can all agree on that. I don't like this either—if we make one mistake, we can get stuck in… I don't know. Somewhere undesirable. Let's put it at that."

Hiro looked up to Baymax. "I want you taking pictures and videos of our whole process. That way we can keep track of what we've tried and what we haven't touched. Also, just to verify this thing works, what time is it right now?"

"12:20, October 9, 2056," states Baymax firmly. "Also, I fail to see any other possible way of testing this. I'm afraid trial and error is the way to go."

"Right…" Hiro trails off. "That's good. I was just making sure."

Once they reached the room they were looking for, they found that the portal was still active and likely rigged to take them back to the same time as last—perhaps they could head back to continue watching Hiccup's life story, but that wasn't what they sought to do.

The whole reason they came down here was to figure out how to work the thing so they could get Hiccup back to the right time.

They looked in the control room first, and Hiro proceeded to power on the computers again. He was quite surprised that they were still working, since it must have been—what, six to eight months since the people at Krei Tech abandoned this place.

This time, it was his turn to search and salvage any information on the portal that he could find. Baymax ended up downloading the entire database and cleared out any junk files and documents that weren't of any use to them.

"So what do we do now? Are we going to just pull a bunch of levers and press a ton of buttons until something works?" asks GoGo. "We don't know what any of this does."

Hiro just shrugged. "So far, it looks like that's what we're going to have to do. Until one of us can get this whole thing figured out, at least."

"Well," starts Hiccup, leaning against a wall, "that doesn't sound like the greatest idea there is. Trial and error testing and we don't even know what we're doing pulling all these different levers and such."

"Okay, then first… I think we should just go through right now, see what year it takes us to, and work out everything from there. Really, to find out if the thing just changes randomly or if we actually have to mess with the thing so we end up at the right time," says Hiro.

He looked over the rest of the group for approval. Nobody seemed to have any reason to disagree with him, and it only took a few seconds for them to put that proposal into action. They all knew that it was safe—they didn't get lost the first time, so who's to say something will go wrong this time?

Hiro and Hiccup went first, on Baymax and Toothless respectively, and then all the others went straight through. Again, the entire group ended up on the same island, and its appearance hadn't seemed to change since the last time they were here.

Nobody went out cold this time, but no one was able to keep his or her footing, not even Toothless or Baymax. While Baymax was up and running right away, it took everyone else about a minute to recover from his or her dazed state.

"Alright, Baymax, what year is it right now?"

Baymax had to take a bit to get all the numbers sorted out.

"It is approximately 900 years before the establishment of San Fransokyo," announces Baymax.

Hiro did the math for a few seconds in his head. "That means it's about the 1006," says Hiro. "Hold on, Baymax, what year are you considering to be 'the establishment of San Fransokyo'?"

"1906."

"Huh. That's actually the San Francisco earthquake," says Hiro. "Whatever. It's close enough. Date's still heavily discussed anyway. Point is, I'm saying the 'extinction' occurs in about 50 years."

"1056?" asks Hiccup.

Wasabi nodded. "1000 years back is a good number to work off of," says Wasabi. "If we're going to estimate, since… who's the historian here?"

Everyone in the group exchanged glances, and GoGo just scoffed. "What does it matter? We all know enough."

"Okay," Hiccup intervenes, "I don't know exactly when 1006 is, so we'll need to go to Berk to find out what happens in the year 1006, and then we can work everything out from there."

"…And thus begins the next chapter in a time traveling saga!" says Fred all of a sudden in an overdramatic tone.

Everyone just stared at him for a bit. Hiccup and Honey Lemon seemed mildly amused, Wasabi and GoGo were clearly displeased, and Hiro remained indifferent.

"What?" asks Fred.

"Anyway," starts Hiccup, "I know you guys probably don't want to endure the discomfort of having to fly for several hours straight again."

Everyone whose name wasn't Hiro agreed with him immediately.

"Are you six fine if you just… you know, hang tight for a bit while I find out what's going on at Berk? Toothless can go pretty fast, so it will hasten the process if just the two of us go right now."

"How fast can he go?" asks Hiro.

Hiccup shrugged. "I don't know. Fast enough, that's for sure. We'll have to look at that back in San Fransokyo if we want the exact numbers."

"But you haven't answered my question yet," says Hiccup, "are you guys fine if just the two of us go back to Berk to find out what's going on right now?"

Honey Lemon nodded. "Just don't get into trouble there."

Hiccup mounted Toothless, and just like that, the two were off, leaving the rest of the group to wait for them on the island. They took off at blinding speed, one that left Hiro and the rest of the group completely stunned. One moment they were there, and the next they were just a tiny black speck on the horizon.

"Wow," says Hiro, partially surprised. "I guess I will have to figure out how fast they can go once we get back."


	12. XII: Hiccup's Future

The first thing Hiccup noticed flying over Berk was the lack of dragons, along with the banners depicting dragon slaying. Well, at least he knew when it was now. There was something going on in the kill ring, and he managed to spot a growing crowd outside.

That gave him a better idea of when it was—during the time when he had still been sneaking off into the forest to find Toothless. When Astrid still held a grudge against him for besting her in dragon training.

He made sure to pick his spots carefully. He didn't want anyone to spot the Night Fury flying in broad daylight, and he considered himself lucky that hardly anyone ever looked up unless they had a reason to.

"Okay, where is it…" Hiccup mutters to himself. He decided to land Toothless in the forest just past his house. They were in a spot where the past Hiccup won't run by them, and basically everyone still in the village had gone to watch the training session.

 _This is dangerous,_ thinks Hiccup. "Wait here, bud."

Hiccup didn't know where to start searching. Last he remembered, his past self left the dragon manual on a table in the Meade Hall. Surely, someone would have moved it by now. Hopefully that someone was Gobber, because Hiccup decided to check the forge first.

As he was about to enter the place, he saw the action in the arena begin to die out—the training session was ending. That meant he would have to move faster if he wanted to find the book.

He couldn't do more than look at the coals in a weird way before he heard someone coming. Shaking his head, he zoomed off around the building and hid out of sight as Gobber went inside.

"Nah," says Hiccup. He gave up on finding the book right there. Obviously, he couldn't check inside the Meade Hall unless he wanted someone to spot him. Even if about half the village was gone on a search for the nest, there was no way he'd be able to sneak inside the Meade Hall without using any of the tunnels built on Berk _after_ the end of the war. Needless to say, those tunnels were yet to be dug.

Still, he kept a low profile as he skulked around the village, in case anyone happened to look in his general direction. He knew where he expected each of the teens to be at this time of the day, right after training; his past self would be in the forest, Astrid would also be there, and everyone else would have just headed back to the village. When he left Toothless, he was extra sure to put him in a spot where none of the past teens could see him.

It took about another minute to reach the dragon in the forest. Toothless had heard him coming before Hiccup even came into his view, so he was already in the most optimal position for Hiccup to get on.

Just like that, the two took straight to the sky, first making sure to fly high enough so that no one could shoot them down. Heck, some might even mistake the pair for a bird if they flew high enough.

When they returned to the island where they had left Hiro and the others, it was almost dusk.

"Seems about right," says Hiccup, confirming the date. "Time that passed here during our week-ish long break at San Fransokyo: about zero."

"Alright," says Hiro. "Now that we kind of know how this thing works, I think we should head back through."

They all did, and again, none of them blacked out upon entering.

"Bored?" asks Hiro.

"Yes," answers a seemingly exasperated Fred. The rest of the group, for once, couldn't do anything but agree with him. No one wanted to sit around for hours waiting for someone to answer a yes-or-no question.

"Alright, then, here's what: you guys can take Fred's chopper back to San Fransokyo," suggests Hiro. "If we need you guys, we'll call you up. Hiccup, Toothless, Baymax, and I, though, are going to have to stay here and find out a bit more about how this thing works."

"Alright, fine," says GoGo. "Just remember _to_ call us up if something goes wrong."

"Ah, don't sweat it," says Hiro as the others started out. "We'll probably end up dropping by SFIT if we ever need help."

The rest of the group disappeared from the room, leaving the two boys and their companions alone in the underground facility. The only noise that surrounded them was the buzzing of the portal behind them, which would lead them back to the time before peace with dragons on Berk.

"Alright," says Hiro, his voice echoing in the chamber. "So, how are we going to work this thing? If our objective year is… so what, Baymax said 900, and that's 5 years behind your time, so our goal year should be 1011… yeah, 1011."

Hiccup just shrugged. "I don't know. Neither of us know exactly how to work this machine, and if we even _attempt_ to bring in someone who does know how to rig it, which I seriously doubt someone does, then this thing gets shut down and I'm stuck here forever."

"Calm down."

"I can't! This thing gives me a glimmer of hope that I might get to go home, and we don't even know how to work this thing."

"Sorry." The two were now up in the control room. "But when I look at this, even I am left clueless as to what each button does… okay, I might have a few ideas for some, but it's not enough to find out which control changes the designated year of this portal."

That just left Hiccup a bit more agitated. He seemed to close, yet he's still too far away from getting everything right in order to return home.

But Hiccup isn't the person who just sits down when something like this occurs. "So then what do you suggest we do?"

"I know that there's nothing in Baymax that would help him figure everything out," says Hiro. "I suggest the 'push-random-buttons-until-something-happens' technique. Probably the absolute _worst_ thing you can do, especially considering how disaster prone this thing is, but if you're _that_ determined on getting back to Berk, then knock yourself out. Baymax, what are the odds we get something good out of this before we blow ourselves up?"

"Low enough that I absolutely do not suggest it," replies Baymax.

Hiro just scoffed at the response. "See? Even he agrees."

Hiccup stepped forward, and he and Toothless got a closer look at all the controls. He scratched the panel a bit, careful not to accidentally push any of the buttons, and ended up doing two things.

One of the things he did was get his fingers dirty. He couldn't worry about that—not that it was worth worrying about anyway, since he could easily wash it off later and, if that doesn't work, Baymax would have a way to take care of it.

But the second thing was more interesting. On the brown surface, there was a hint of yellow under one of the buttons. Hiccup reached over and scratched it to reveal letters. Once Hiccup realized what they spelled out, a seemingly dissatisfied look spread across his face.

"These are labeled," he says as he stared at the gunk on his finger.

"Are they really?" asks Hiro. He stepped up to the control panel, forcing Hiccup out of his spot.

"Yeah, but it's a bit dirty."

Hiro did as Hiccup said and wiped the panel, again careful not to push any of the buttons. He read the labels on the buttons, each one describing its functionality.

Hiro ended up with one hand in his face, moaning in disbelief over all the time they wasted. "Oh dear, I can be so dumb at times."

* * *

The two cleaned their hands with Baymax before getting back to work. After pushing several buttons, Hiro still didn't seem to know what he was doing. Well, at least it seemed that way to Hiccup. To him, it just seemed so random with Hiro pushing a series of buttons. He had still not fully grasped the concept of how it worked, despite having already accepted the fact that it does work.

The field shifted a bit; there were waves in the distortion created by the portal. Every time Hiro pushed something, there was either movement or the field would change color slightly.

It took Hiro several more button pushes for him to say something. "Alright, I don't know what I just did, but I did something," he says. "Do we know if it's safe to go through? No, no we don't. And I'm guessing there's only one way to find out."

Hiro glanced at Baymax. "Care to be our test subject, Baymax?"

"Is it not my purpose to keep you safe?" Baymax asks, as if challenging him.

Hiccup glanced at Toothless. "That sounds like you, bud."

Toothless just grunted. Obviously, Hiccup wasn't willing to let Toothless go through without verification that it was safe. While Hiro could easily rebuild or reset Baymax should anything go wrong, Hiccup can't 'build a dragon.'

Baymax lined up away from the portal, activated wings, and had his boosters ready for when Hiro would give him the green light.

"It's simple," says Hiro. "If you don't come back through, then we'll know it's not safe to go through."

No more questions, no more talking from that point. From the other side of the room, Baymax threw himself at the portal and disappeared the second he reached the ring. There was no way to monitor what was going on in the space between times, lest they take the risk going in themselves.

A few seconds passed as the noise from Baymax's boosters faded away. The moment the area plunged into silence, though, Baymax reappeared out of the ring and landed in the middle of the room.

"I find it safe," the robot reports. "If you wish to travel now, then we can. Otherwise, it is getting late outside. 20:14, October 9, 2056."

Neither of them felt very tired. While Hiro was tinkering with the machine, Hiccup must have dozed off a couple of times. Hiro must have had some time to rest while waiting for Hiccup to come back from Berk.

"Nah, let's go through now," says Hiro. "Spend a few hours there and we'll probably be back before even fifteen minutes pass here."

Hiccup agreed, and the two, along with their companions, went back through the portal and appeared at the same island, as expected.

It was a gray day; quite cloudy, as if there was going to be a storm sometime within the next few minutes. The terrain around them was mostly black, similar to what it was when Hiccup found the island for the first time.

"Baymax, what year is it?" asks Hiro.

"850 years before establishment," says Baymax. He turned his head toward Hiccup and gave him the number after doing the math—850 years before the San Francisco earthquake in 1906. "1056."

The clouds began to part above them. Rays of sunlight peeked through more and more holes in the clouds. It looks like it's not going to rain anytime soon. The sight of the sun low on the horizon hinted that it was around twilight hours—sunset.

"It's 'extinction' year," says Hiro, placing heavy quotes around the middle word. There was an eerie silence around them, somewhat similar to the atmosphere that greeted them when they first discovered the chamber with the time machine inside. It was completely lifeless around them; no dragons in the air, coupled with the fact that the island they were on was scorched.

"Where do we go now?" asks Hiccup. "Perhaps back to Berk? I want to find out what happens."

"Is it safe?" Hiro says back.

"It takes hours to fly there," Hiccup explains. "Chances are that by the time we reach Berk, the sun would have already set."

Hiro shrugged. "Okay," he says before climbing onto Baymax. "Again, you know the way better than I do, so let's go."

They flew back to Berk, the sky becoming progressively darker as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was a long flight as usual, and the two did grow bored after the last bits of the sun disappeared.

Hours later, they were at Berk. Or at least they were at what was left of it. Everybody was gone—shrubbery had overtaken the village, and few houses were still left standing. The banners were all torn up, the dragon stables were abandoned, and every system that had been installed in the village was no longer functioning.

Toothless moaned nervously. "I know, I know, I don't like it either," says Hiccup. "We have to know what happened—or what will happen."

To tell the truth, everyone was uncomfortable. The slightest noise from an object moved by the wind startled them. It was difficult to see, since there were no torches. Baymax and Toothless had to provide all the light for them.

They landed in the middle of the village. All the surrounding carts and feeding stations were empty. Gobber's workshop returned a similar result. Hiccup decided that they should check the Meade Hall next.

After climbing the countless number of steps to get to the Meade Hall, they were surprised to find that the giant door was wide open. Baymax gave them enough light to see what there was: just tables and benches, some overturned or on their side.

"Wonder how long ago Berk was abandoned," says Hiccup.

Hiro chimed in with a suggestion. "With how much everything's overgrown here, it has to have been a pretty long time," he says.

There was Hiccup's house next, which easily seemed to be the most changed of the ones that were still standing. Hiccup went inside, finding that it, too, was like every other building in the village.

Empty.

Toothless suddenly perked up to something the others couldn't hear. The dragon turned to face north and warbled a bit which told the others that something had caught his attention. Hiccup glanced at him before also turning to face north. "Are you picking up something?"

To fly north was to fly over the forest. Surely, whatever was pulling at Toothless had to be important. Hiccup and Hiro both mounted their respective companions right away, and just like that, they were leaving Berk.

 _Ah, I don't think we would have found anything there anyway,_ thinks Hiccup.

Hiccup just allowed Toothless to guide them toward whatever was pulling him, adjusting the position of the tail fin when needed. Hiro and Baymax followed closely behind, closer than usual since it was night and it was more difficult to see each other.

They could make out large shapes floating in the ocean, shapes that Hiccup easily recognized as familiar islands scattered around the northern part of the archipelago. Other than that, though, the view from the night sky was blank. Hiccup knew that he likely wouldn't come across any villages, since they were traveling north.

They traveled. A few minutes turned into a full hour of flying north, and nothing caught Hiccup's eyes until then. An ominous sound reached his ears from afar. It sounded like a horn of sorts, like the type used to alert villages of an oncoming attack.

There were lights in the distance. Perhaps a settlement established between Hiccup's time and now, since Hiccup had been out this far before and never found a village up here.

The island the lights were coming from was large and snow-covered. It looked like a huge mountain jutting out of the ocean, one that vaguely resembled a Red Death nest. Hiccup already knew it was just another mountain and no nest, but he wondered what kind of people would settle out here. Both Toothless and Baymax sped up in a hurry to find out what was going on.

The crew landed at the top of a gorge, where several dragons were moving in a line at the bottom. Their destination was the mountain, a giant door leading inside. "So the mountain, I'm guessing is a shelter of sorts," says Hiro. "I figure that if there's a giant door leading in, then there has to be people living on this island."

Hiccup just watched as the dragons all entered through the doorway in a single file.

A man came out from inside. "Come on, lads!" he says, motioning for the dragons to come inside. "Hunters will be here any moment now, we can't waste a second!"

That caught Hiccup's attention. "Hiro, can you go around the island and see if there are any ships approaching?"

Hiro nodded. "Sure." He and Baymax took off and did one quick lap around the island. There were lights to the north, lights that were progressively coming closer.

Curious to see what it was, they headed toward it to get a clearer view, and Hiro nodded. "Yeah, that's some fleet," he says before turning back around to notify Hiccup.

Meanwhile, Hiccup continued to watch as the man guided the dragons through the door. The sound of the horn stopped, and the operation paused for a bit before resuming a few seconds later.

Hiro and Baymax landed behind him and Toothless. "There's a fleet coming in from the north," he says. "We must have not seen it because we came in from the south."

"Okay," says Hiccup. "But I wonder why they're taking shelter instead of trying to fight them off."

It took Hiro a bit of thinking to come up with a theory why. "Well, you remember what year it is?"

"1056."

"So we know they're not extinct yet at this point in 1056. But perhaps there was some sort of decline? Perhaps they're not looking to fight because the numbers aren't in their favor?" suggests Hiro. "I didn't get that good of a look at the fleet, but there were a lot of ships out there. Probably too much for them to fight off with what they have."

The end of the line was in sight, and it was time for Hiccup to make a decision. "I'm getting closer," he says. He jumped onto Toothless, and they flew down toward the end of the line of dragons.

Hiro rolled his eyes. _No, no, bad idea,_ he thinks. _Come on, come on, think. Brain! Think! I can't stop him, and Baymax isn't supposed to harm people. Can't sink the fleet. Can't reveal._ He started breathing heavily as he watched Hiccup approach the man, with Toothless at the end of the line.

"Hey, you got room for one more?" asks Hiccup.

The man was shocked to hear another voice outside of the shelter. He turned to look at Hiccup. "Uh, sure. Do I know you?"

"No. I just flew in," says Hiccup, growing somewhat nervous. "Got lost and somehow ended up here. I need a place to stay for a night and this fleet is not looking pretty."

"You a rider?" he asks.

"Yeah. Night Fury, very end of the line."

"Okay," the man says. "What's your name?"

Hiccup had to think a bit for a name. He couldn't just give out his real name—what if he was still alive in the year 1056? "Just call me… Gustav."

He rolled his eyes and bit his lip at his decision of a name. Oh well, he shouldn't have to use it for a long time anyway, since he was only supposed to find out what was going on.

"Alright, Gustav," he says, watching as the last dragons moved inside the shelter. "I'm Archie, tribe chief. If you do exactly as I say, we should be out by morning."

Hiccup nodded, and Toothless was coming by in line as the conversation ended. The two went inside together, and Archie soon followed behind them.

"What could you be up to?" whispers Hiro.

At this point, it would be time for Hiro to move since the fleet was approaching. The problem was that Hiro wanted to find out what would happen. If these were the last dragons, then was he witnessing their deaths unfolding in front of him, or was there something else that led to the assumption that they had gone extinct?

Hiro climbed onto Baymax, and they ascended high enough so that no one would see them. They began to circle around the island a safe distance from the ground, watching everything unfold.

The doors shut behind Hiccup, allowing him to get a view of the inside of the mountain—it was _huge_! Bigger than the Meade Hall back at Berk, in fact.

But he didn't get much time to marvel at the size of the place before he noticed all the commotion going on. The people inside were all panicking as they were taking shelter from an attack, while the dragons didn't seem all too happy either.

"SHUT IT!" roars Archie. That was enough to silence the whole crowd, human and dragon alike.

"Thank you," says Archie, mildly exasperated. "Now, dragon hunter raid. We remain calm, and if we need to, we'll take the tunnels out of here, under the village. Otherwise, no fighting, no drinking, no games, nothing until my mark. I don't want to have to clean up any spills tonight."

From above, Hiro watched as the fleet arrived at the shore. They carried torches around, so it was easy to track their movements. The raiders went to the village first, but they quickly returned to the ships upon realizing that nobody was there.

They explored the island for a bit, discovering the gorge that led to the entrance to the mountain. Two men attempted to open the door, but were unsuccessful in doing so.

It frustrated Hiro to know that he can't do anything but watch. As much as he wanted to go down there and drive the fleet away, as much as he wanted to go get Hiccup and leave, he knew he couldn't.

He watched as the fleet set up numerous catapults around the island and aimed all of them at the mountain. He watched as the fleet loaded them with boulders that could kill on impact. He watched as the boulders soared straight at the mountain before crumbling, though the impact was nowhere near quiet.

From inside the shelter, as soon as the first boulder pelted the mountainside, Archie made his call. "Okay, everyone into the tunnels! Move!" he orders, pointing at one of the tunnels that led under the shelter.

The people and the dragons began filing into the tunnel. Hiccup started to follow, but Archie stopped him.

"You," says Archie. "I'm actually lucky that you showed up with a Night Fury. You can help me out real quick before you go."

Hiccup nodded. "Okay. What do you need us to do?"

"Do you think your Night Fury can take down this mountain?" he asks.

That question shocked Hiccup. "I… I'm sorry, what?" he stutters. "You want him to take down this whole mountain?"

"Maybe not the entire thing," he says, "but enough of it so that they believe we are dead. That way, if they think we all died in here, then they'll never come back."

Hiccup and Toothless exchanged looks, and Toothless perked up. That was enough to tell Hiccup that he wanted to have a go at it.

"I guess he can go for it," says Hiccup. "What's the best spot to hit?"

Archie pointed at a point on the wall. "You see that little ridge on the wall right there?"

Hiccup peered at the same wall and saw it. "Yeah."

"Your Night Fury should be able to get a good shot at it from the tunnel entrance. On my mark, I want it to fire, take down a portion of the mountain to make them think we're dead, and then we bail through the tunnels."

"Where do the tunnels lead?"

"Under the village," Archie answers. "The way out is up a 'well' that no one uses. It's the main escape route from this shelter if the front is unavailable."

The pelting began to slow down—maybe they were having to take their time to reload. "Alright, let's go," says Archie.

By now, everyone was a good distance into the tunnel. Archie, Hiccup, and Toothless all ran over to the tunnel entrance, Toothless ready to fire a maximum-powered blast at the ridge on the wall.

The pelting stopped, but Archie didn't call for a blast yet. "Hold on," he says. "They're reloading. Let them fire a second wave at us."

A minute passed before the fleet was back to firing boulders at the mountain. Dust floated down from where the boulders were colliding with the mountain, and some particles appeared close to the ridge.

As the pelting slowed, Archie made his call. "Now!" he orders.

Toothless fired the maximum-powered blast right at the ridge, the noise echoing through the chamber after the violent impact. They didn't even wait to see if it worked. Just seconds after the blast hit the ridge, Hiccup was already on Toothless and Archie was sprinting down the tunnel.

From above, Hiro watched as the shelter collapsed on itself. The front door and its frame remained intact, but rocks from the other side of the mountain fell straight into the shelter.

Hiro gasped at what he was watching. His jaw dropped, and he reached down toward the mountain where Hiccup was taking shelter. _No, no, no, no, no, no,_ he thinks, somehow still resisting the urge to fly down there and investigate.

The collapse of the mountainside ended up blocking the tunnel entrance, which was the desirable result. As soon as it imploded, the firing of the catapults stopped, and a loud cheer erupted throughout the fleet as they celebrated in the supposed death of the dragons. They began to load the catapults back onto the ships.

Archie and Hiccup listened to the fleet from under the village. "I really should go now," says Hiccup.

But Archie shook his head. "That's a bad idea," he says. "Exposing a dragon to them when they believe they've killed them off."

Hiccup shrugged. "I'm on a Night Fury," he insists. "Black as the sky, they won't even see me flying away from here. If I wait for daytime, then there's a higher chance they'll spot my dragon."

Archie looked up, hearing nothing from the fleet. "Okay, fine," he says. "I guess we're done."

Hiccup climbed out of the well and appeared in the middle of the village. He saw nobody—the entire fleet was already back at the ships. _Seems someone's in a hurry to get home,_ he thinks.

Toothless followed once Hiccup notified him that it was safe. Hiccup mounted his dragon once they were both out, and they started flying up.

Had it not been for the lights from the fleet, Hiro wouldn't have noticed the dark figure flying up toward him and Baymax. He let out a huge sigh of relief upon finding out that they were still alive.

"What happened?" asks Hiro.


	13. XIII: Square One

 

"Guy's smart, I'll give him that" said Hiccup. He had just finished explaining Archie's whole plan, faking the death of the last dragons while bringing them into hiding so they could recover.

"I won't deny that," says Hiro.

They flew back to what was left of Berk and found it untouched. Unlike that place up north, Berk was too close to other tribes to attempt to hide dragons. It was evident as the island's dragon shelter was destroyed entirely.

Oddly enough, Hiccup did not seem very devastated about seeing the war-torn future of Berk. He had known that his village's future looked bleak, but it still would have been hard to imagine that this would be the result of another war. It just seemed that there would be too many dragons for an opposition to get past before reaching Berk, yet they still did it anyway.

Seeing the village ruins only served as a sort of encouragement to Hiccup. _I can stop this from happening,_ he thinks.

"I'm done here," says Hiccup. "Let's go back to San Fransokyo."

* * *

"So help me out here," says Hiccup. The two were back in their room at the Lucky Cat Café.

He sat down at a desk, grabbed a pencil and a sheet of paper, and drew a line straight across. He created two points at each end, the left side with the number 0 and the right side with the number 2056. He then drew more points on the line to serve as checkpoints, for the years 1000 and 2000.

Then Hiccup drew another line below the one he had already drawn and labeled the ends with 1000 and 1100. Hiro watched over his shoulder as he drew the timeline.

The first thing Hiccup labeled was the very end of the first line, calling 2056 the present. Then he went to the other line and labeled the year 1056 as the supposed 'extinction' of the dragons.

"Put in 1906 as well," suggests Hiro. "SF earthquake, which is the year Baymax is using for reference."

Hiccup added that event to the timeline. "So, it took Berk approximately 300 years to come to terms with dragons." He added the year circa 706 to the timeline, as the establishment of Berk. Then he added 1006, representing the beginning of the peace with the dragons.

"And then of course, 1011 or 1012," adds Hiccup. "That's about the time I'm supposed to go back to."

Hiro reached over and circled the gap between 1011 and 1056. "Somewhere in this area, something must have happened to the dragons that forced them into hiding," he says. "First off, we have to find out when the trouble begins to rise."

"Then," continues Hiccup, "we're supposed to stop it, right?"

Hiro stopped before he could say anything. Were they supposed to stop the dragons from falling into hiding? This was history; it's something that has already happened. It's something that has never really crossed his mind until now, but would it be possible to change history using the time machine?

And if history could be changed, how would it affect that world that Hiro knew? It could be for the better or for the worse, but it was a risk that Hiro didn't want to take.

If dragons never went into hiding, then how would the next thousand years have played out? Would San Francisco, later San Fransokyo, have ever been established? Surely, one thousand years should be plenty of time to create a world that Hiro would be completely unfamiliar with. Hiro couldn't decide whether that would be better or worse.

"I don't know," says Hiro.

"What do you mean?" questions Hiccup.

"I mean I don't know if we can stop it," explains Hiro. "It's something that has already happened. I don't know if we can change something that happened a thousand years ago."

Hiccup just shrugged and began writing some notes on the timeline. "Well, it's worth a try."

* * *

They didn't know how long it has been since they started searching. They didn't know how far they've gone; they only knew the direction in which they traveled from Berk, and that was north. Perhaps they could estimate that they were several hours north of Berk, but one thing was for sure about their search.

It has yielded no positive results.

There was a village within their view, but they decided against visiting them. for all they knew, they could be hostile against dragons, and they didn't want to risk having to face off against a tribe with that many ships at their docks.

It was becoming apparent that whatever they were doing wasn't working. The village's tracker class dragons only took them to the scorched island they had visited toward the beginning of their series of searches.

Perhaps Hiccup vanished somehow, or he found a way to prevent tracker class dragons from tracking his scent. It made no sense to any of them. Obviously, vanishing out of existence would be impossible, but why would Hiccup want to prevent tracker class dragons from finding him?

He wouldn't, of course. Suddenly, it felt like the impossible thing was a more logical explanation for Hiccup going missing.

For now, though, they would have to find a place to land and rest for the night—they have been flying all day, and both they and their dragons were becoming tired. The lack of light wasn't much of a problem, since the ocean was clearly visible beneath them.

The village in the distance began to look tempting, since there were no other islands nearby. Astrid decided to move in a bit closer to get a better view, knowing that they would be difficult to spot in the night sky.

Fishlegs was wholly against paying them a visit, but Snotlout insisted that they would be off the island the next morning, before the villagers even knew of their presence. Astrid continued to observe from a distance, attempting to determine whether or not it would be safe to land there.

A ship appeared and docked at the island. It looked torn, several parts missing, and most of them wondered how the thing could even stay afloat, holding that many people onboard. That was all they could see of the ship from a distance; they wouldn't be able to guess what happened to the ship without getting closer, whether it was attacked by other Vikings or by dragons.

It was enough to make Astrid turn around, though. They didn't want to risk landing on the island for the night, so they just decided to keep flying.

They searched for about another half hour before they found another island, this one uninhabited. This one, they deemed safe to land on and rest for the night. The plan would be to head back to Berk, first thing in the morning.

That came much sooner than any of them were expecting. In the blink of an eye, the sun was rising behind them, and it was time to head back to Berk. No one knew exactly how long they had slept, but they were refreshed enough that they were able to fly back without any difficulty.

Back home, things were going quite normally, but with an added sense of fear that they may need to seek a new chief for the second time in less than a year. But for now, the people trusted those who were close to Hiccup prior to his disappearance, mainly Astrid, Gobber, and Valka.

Astrid delivered the same piece of news to the latter two and went home. She was aware that everyone else thought that Hiccup was gone forever, and she was beginning to believe it as well. They had searched relentlessly for weeks and the only clue they could find came from Alvin. Aside from that, there was nothing for them to follow.

* * *

"Do you know what year we're going to end up in if we go through this thing?" asks Hiccup.

"No," answers Hiro. "Something that I can't really fix right now. We have to go through to find out what year it is on the other side."

When they came out on the other side, they found that the island was black, as if scorched, similar to how Hiccup first found it. This reminded him of that encounter, and Hiccup immediately assumed they were somewhere near the time of his departure from Berk. He wondered how much time must have passed here.

"1012," Baymax reported.

"Close enough," says Hiccup. "If anything turns up, there's always a ticket back to San Fran from here."

He's been away from home for too long—perhaps the people at Berk were assuming he was dead by now. Obviously it would have been nice if he had come back a bit earlier, but several months in Berk's time will have to do.

They flew back, Hiro becoming more familiar with the surrounding area as they took the same path back to Berk. He took mental notes on the islands they flew by and what they looked like. _This one has waves crashing on the cliff face, and that one over there is the one with a sandy beach_ , he thought.

Hiccup, meanwhile, was busy scanning the ocean for anything that may have gone amiss during his absence. Though unlikely, it's always possible that war may have broken out between tribes, or something of the like that would make him want to exercise caution.

Nothing went wrong during the flight back. The island of Berk came into view in the distance, and while Hiccup's first thought was to allow Toothless to zoom as quickly as possible to the island so he could see everyone again, he had to hold himself back.

"Wait," says Hiccup, turning back to Hiro. "They're not supposed to see you. They're not accustomed to see you and a flying robot. Attire's all foreign here, if you haven't noticed already."

Hiro didn't mind; he knew that the people living in the year 1012 shouldn't be seeing someone like him or something like Baymax anyway, so he was aware that he would most likely have to hide from the people of Berk. To the cove it was, then.

They wrapped around the island from a distance and decided to come in from the forest side, so Hiro could get to the cove without having to fly over the village. When they landed, it was quiet in the forest as usual, and Hiro chose to settle next to the lake in the cove.

"You'll know where to find us if it's not here, right?" says Hiro.

Hiccup nodded, said nothing, and he and Toothless set off toward the village. They opted to walk rather than fly into the village; Hiccup wanted a quieter entrance.

 _What will they think,_ wonders Hiccup. A quick scan of the area told him that he had missed the entire winter, so it has been at least three months since he disappeared. Perhaps it's a better idea to just go back to San Fransokyo and pick a better time to come back—maybe when he knows the cause of the village's fate in the upcoming years.

He didn't doubt that he'd earned himself a beating, given how long it's been since he left. He didn't doubt that he'd have to explain why he was gone for so long, even though he can't tell the entire truth. He would have to lie, for the sake of the village and himself. After all, no one would believe him if he told them that he went a thousand years forward in time.

So what does he say? Maybe he can tell them he got into a months-long scuffle with pirates, and that Toothless broke the artificial tail fin—that would explain why he had a new one, but it wouldn't explain his current condition. He looked completely fresh; if he had really been stuck with hostiles for that long, he would have hurt himself somewhere—maybe some bruises or scrapes.

Whatever lie he picked, though, Hiccup knew that it would have to explain every aspect of his absence.

There were no more trees, and soon Hiccup found himself wandering into the village, with Toothless following close. It was quiet, for now, but he knew it wouldn't stay that way for too long.

"Hiccup!" a voice called out.


End file.
